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Ecclesiastes 2:12
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10 Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them.
I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure,
For my heart rejoiced in all my labor;
And athis was my reward from all my labor. 
11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done
And on the labor in which I had toiled;
And indeed all was avanity and grasping for the wind.
There was no profit under the sun. 

The End of the Wise and the Fool

12 Then I turned myself to consider wisdom aand madness and folly;
For what can the man do who succeeds the king?—
Only what he has already bdone. 
13 Then I saw that wisdom aexcels folly
As light excels darkness. 
14 aThe wise man’s eyes are in his head,
But the fool walks in darkness.
Yet I myself perceived
That bthe same event happens to them all. 
15 So I said in my heart,
“As it happens to the fool,
It also happens to me,
And why was I then more wise?”
Then I said in my heart,
“This also is vanity.”
Verse Comparison: Ecclesiastes 2:12

<< Ecclesiastes 2:11   Ecclesiastes 2:13 >>

American Standard Version
And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what `can' the man `do' that cometh after the king? `even' that which hath been done long ago.

Amplified® Bible
So I turned to consider [human] wisdom and madness and folly; for what can the man do who succeeds the king? Nothing but what has been done already.

Contemporary English Version
I asked myself, "What can the next king do that I haven't done?" Then I decided to compare wisdom with foolishness and stupidity.

Darby English Version
And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly; for what shall the man [do] that cometh after the king? -- that which hath already been done.

Good News Bible
After all, a king can only do what previous kings have done. So I started thinking about what it meant to be wise or reckless or foolish.

King James Version
And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done.

New American Standard Bible
So I turned to consider wisdom, madness and folly; for what {will} the man {do} who will come after the king {except} what has already been done?

New International Version
Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
and also madness and folly.
What more can the king's successor do
than what has already been done?

New King James Version
Then I turned myself to consider wisdom and madness and folly;
For what can the man do who succeeds the king?—
Only what he has already done.

N.A.S.B. in E-Prime
So I turned to consider wisdom, madness and folly; for what will the man do who will come after the king except what has already occurred?

Revised Standard Version
So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what he has already done.

Young's Literal Translation
And I turned to see wisdom, and madness, and folly, but what `is' the man who cometh after the king? that which `is' already -- they have done it!


<< Ecclesiastes 2:11   Ecclesiastes 2:13 >>

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