Ecclesiastes 2:19 - Revised Standard Version CI

¹⁹ and who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.

More versions

King James Version (Oxford) 1769

¹⁹ And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.

Amplified Bible - Classic Edition

¹⁹ And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have dominion over all my labor in which I have toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)!

American Standard Version (1901)

¹⁹ And who knoweth whether he will be a wise man or a fool? yet will he have rule over all my labor wherein I have labored, and wherein I have showed myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.

Common English Bible

¹⁹ And who knows whether that one will be wise or foolish? Either way, that person will have control over the results of all my hard work and wisdom here under the sun. That too is pointless.

Catholic Public Domain Version

¹⁹ though I know not whether he will be wise or foolish. And yet he will have power over my labors, in which I have toiled and been anxious. And is there anything else so empty?

Ecclesiastes 2:19 Cross References

1 Kings 11:43

And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father; and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

1 Kings 12:13

And the king answered the people harshly, and forsaking the counsel which the old men had given him,

Ecclesiastes 2:11

Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2:20

So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun,

Ecclesiastes 3:22

So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should enjoy his work, for that is his lot; who can bring him to see what will be after him?

Ecclesiastes 9:13

I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me.

Luke 16:8

The master commended the dishonest steward for his shrewdness; for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.

1 Timothy 6:10

For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs.

James 1:17

Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

James 3:17

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity.