Ecclesiastes 2:15 - Revised Standard Version CI

¹⁵ Then I said to myself, “What befalls the fool will befall me also; why then have I been so very wise?” And I said to myself that this also is vanity.

More versions

King James Version (Oxford) 1769

¹⁵ Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.

Amplified Bible - Classic Edition

¹⁵ Then said I in my heart, As it happens to the fool, so it will happen even to me. And of what use is it then for me to be more wise? Then I said in my heart, This also is vanity (emptiness, vainglory, and futility)!

American Standard Version (1901)

¹⁵ Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then said I in my heart, that this also is vanity.

Common English Bible

¹⁵ So I thought to myself, What happens to the fool will also happen to me. So why have I been so very wise? I said to myself, This too is pointless.

Catholic Public Domain Version

¹⁵ And I said in my heart: "If the death of both the foolish and myself will be one, how does it benefit me, if I have given myself more thoroughly to the work of wisdom?" And as I was speaking within my own mind, I perceived that this, too, is emptiness.

Ecclesiastes 2:15 Cross References

1 Kings 3:12

behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.

Ecclesiastes 1:14

I have seen everything that is done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 1:16

I said to myself, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.”

Ecclesiastes 1:18

For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

Ecclesiastes 1:2

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 2:16

For of the wise man as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise man dies just like the fool!

Ecclesiastes 6:11

The more words, the more vanity, and what is man the better?

Ecclesiastes 6:8

For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living?