I will therefore do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you before and never will be again.
Ecclesiastes 2:15 - Christian Standard Bible Anglicised So I said to myself, ‘What happens to the fool will also happen to me. Why then have I been overly wise? ’ And I said to myself that this is also futile. Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 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 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) 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 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 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. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version And I said in my heart: If the death of the fool and mine shall be one, what doth it avail me, that I have applied myself more to the study of wisdom? And speaking with my own mind, I perceived that this also was vanity. |
I will therefore do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you before and never will be again.
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind. ,
I said to myself, ‘See, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me, and my mind has thoroughly grasped wisdom and knowledge.’
For with much wisdom is much sorrow; as knowledge increases, grief increases.
‘Absolute futility,’ says the Teacher. ‘Absolute futility. Everything is futile.’
For, just like the fool, there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, since in the days to come both will be forgotten. How is it that the wise person dies just like the fool?
For when there are many words, they increase futility. What is the advantage for mankind?
What advantage then does the wise person have over the fool? What advantage is there for the poor person who knows how to conduct himself before others?