So, I will give you the thing you asked. I will make you wise and intelligent. I will make your wisdom so great, that there has never in the past been anyone like you. And in the future, there will never be anyone like you.
Ecclesiastes 2:15 - Easy To Read Version I thought to myself, “The same thing that happens to a foolish person will also happen to me. So why have I tried so hard to become wise?” I said to myself, “Being wise is also useless.” 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. |
So, I will give you the thing you asked. I will make you wise and intelligent. I will make your wisdom so great, that there has never in the past been anyone like you. And in the future, there will never be anyone like you.
I looked at all the things done on earth, and I saw that it is all a waste of time. It is like trying to catch the wind. {\cf2\super [6]}
I said to myself, “I am very wise. I am wiser than all the kings that ruled Jerusalem before me. I know what wisdom and knowledge really are!”
With much wisdom comes frustration. The person that gains more wisdom also gains more sorrow.
Everything is so meaningless. The Teacher says that it is all a waste of time! {\cf2\super [1]}
The wise man and the foolish person will both die! And people will not remember either the wise man or the foolish person forever. In the future, people will forget everything they did. So both the wise man and the foolish person are really the same.
In this way, a wise man is no better than a foolish person. It is better to be a poor man that knows how to accept life as it is.