Ecclesiastes 2:18-21
New King James Version
18 Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because (A)I 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 his [a]heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ecclesiastes 2:21 Lit. portion
Ecclesiastes 2:18-21
New International Version
18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.(A) 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish?(B) Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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.