Ecclesiastes 2:15-17
Expanded Bible
15 I ·thought to myself [L said in my heart],
“·What happens to a fool will happen to me [L The fate of the fool is my fate], too,
so ·what is the reward for being [L why have I become so] wise?”
I said to myself,
“·Being wise [L This] is also useless [1:2].”
16 No one will remember the wise or the fool for long.
·In the future, [L The days will come only too soon when] both will be forgotten.
How will the wise person die?
Like the fool?
Is There Real Happiness in Life?
17 So I hated life. ·It made me sad to think that everything [L For evil is the work that is done] ·here on earth [L under the sun; 1:3] is useless [1:2], like chasing the wind.
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Ecclesiastes 2:15-17
New International Version
15 Then I said to myself,
“The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
What then do I gain by being wise?”(A)
I said to myself,
“This too is meaningless.”
16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;(B)
the days have already come when both have been forgotten.(C)
Like the fool, the wise too must die!(D)
Toil Is Meaningless
17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.(E)
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