behold, I have done according to your words. I have given you a wise and discerning mind, so that there has been none like you before you, nor shall anyone like you arise after you.
Ecclesiastes 2:15 - Tree of Life Version Then said I in my heart: “I, even I, will have the same destiny as a fool. So why have I become so wise?” I said in my heart, “This too is meaningless.” 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. |
behold, I have done according to your words. I have given you a wise and discerning mind, so that there has been none like you before you, nor shall anyone like you arise after you.
I have seen all the deeds done under the sun; and behold, all is meaningless and chasing after the wind.
I spoke with my heart saying: “I have grown rich and increased in wisdom more than any who were before me over Jerusalem. Indeed, my heart has experienced much wisdom and knowledge.”
For with much wisdom comes much grief, and whoever keeps increasing knowledge, increases heartache.
Futile! Futile! says Kohelet. Completely meaningless! Everything is futile!
For the wise man, together with the fool, is not remembered forever. For in the days to come both will be forgotten. Alas, the wise, just like the fool, must die!
When there are many words, futility increases! How does that benefit anyone?
So what advantage has the wise over the fool? What does the pauper gain by knowing how to walk before the living?