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Ecclesiastes 2:15-17
Lexham English Bible
Ecclesiastes 2:15-17
Lexham English Bible
15 So I said to myself,[a] “If I also suffer the same fate as the fool,[b] what advantage is my great wisdom?”[c] So I said to myself,[d] “This also is vanity!”
16 Certainly no one will remember the wise man or the fool in future generations.[e] When future days come, both will have been forgotten already. How is it that the wise man dies the same as the fool? 17 So I hated life because the work done under the sun is grievous to me. For everything is vanity and chasing wind!
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- Ecclesiastes 2:15 Literally “in my heart”
- Ecclesiastes 2:15 Literally “Just as the fate of the fool—so it will happen to me!”
- Ecclesiastes 2:15 Literally “why have I been so exceedingly wise?”
- Ecclesiastes 2:15 Literally “in my heart”
- Ecclesiastes 2:16 Literally “the futures”
Ecclesiastes 2:15-17
New International Version
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)
Ecclesiastes 2:15-17
King James Version
Ecclesiastes 2:15-17
King James Version
15 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.
16 For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.
17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
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Ecclesiastes 2:15-17
New King James Version
Ecclesiastes 2:15-17
New King James Version
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 (A)no 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.
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Lexham English Bible (LEB)
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New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.