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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.”
16 For there is ano more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever,
Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come.
And how does a wise man die?
As the fool!  
17 Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
18 Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because aI must leave it to the man who will come after me.  
19 And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
20 Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun.
21 For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his1 heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.  
22 aFor what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun?  
23 For all his days are asorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.  
24 aNothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.  
25 For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment,1 more than I?  
26 For God gives awisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that bhe may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind. 
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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