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The Blue Letter Bible

Ecclesiastes 2 :: Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)

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The Vanity of Pleasure and Possessions

(cf. 1Ki 4:20–28 )

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:1

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:1 -

I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with gladness, so that you shall see good things.” And behold, it too was vanity.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:2

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:2 - I said of laughter, “It is madness,” and of gladness, “What does it do?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:3

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:3 - I explored with my heart how to [fn]stimulate my [fn]body with wine—while my heart was guiding me wisely—and how to seize simpleminded folly, until I could see where is this good for the sons of men in what they do under heaven the few days of their lives.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:4

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:4 - I made my works great: I built houses for myself; I planted vineyards for myself;

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:5

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:5 - I made for myself gardens and parks, and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees;

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:6

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:6 - I made for myself pools of water from which to water a forest of growing trees.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:7

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:7 - I bought male and female slaves, and I had [fn]homeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:8

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:8 - Also, I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers and the pleasures of the sons of men—many concubines.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:9

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:9 -

Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:10

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:10 - All that my eyes asked for I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any gladness, for my heart was glad because of all my labor, and this was my reward for all my labor.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:11

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:11 - Thus I turned to all my works which my hands had done and the labor which I had labored to do, and behold, all was [fn]vanity and striving after wind, and there was no advantage under the sun.

Wisdom Excels Folly

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:12

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:12 -

So I turned to see wisdom, madness, and simpleminded folly. What will the man do who will come after the king except what has already been done?

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:13

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:13 - And I saw that there is an advantage in wisdom over simpleminded folly as light has an advantage over darkness.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:14

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:14 - The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that the fate of one becomes the fate of all of them.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:15

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:15 - Then I said in my heart, “As is the fate of the fool, so will my fate be also. Why then have I been extremely wise?” So I said in my heart, “This too is vanity.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:16

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:16 - For there is no remembrance of the wise man along with the fool forever, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man dies with the fool!

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:17

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:17 - So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was [fn]grievous to me; because everything is vanity and striving after wind.

The Vanity of Labor

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:18

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:18 -

Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:19

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:19 - And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a man of simpleminded folly? Yet he will have [fn]power over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored and for which I have acted wisely under the sun. This too is vanity.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:20

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:20 - Therefore I turned my heart to despair of all my labor for which I had labored under the sun.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:21

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:21 - When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, then he gives his portion to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:22

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:22 - For what does a man get in all his labor and in the striving of his heart with which he labors under the sun?

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:23

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:23 - Because all his days his endeavor is painful and vexing; even at night his heart does not lie down. This too is vanity.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:24

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:24 -

[fn]There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and have his soul see good in his labor. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:25

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:25 - For who can eat and who can have enjoyment outside of [fn]Him?

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:26

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:26 - For to a man who is good before Him, He has given wisdom and knowledge and gladness, while to the sinner He has given the endeavor of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good before God. This too is vanity and striving after wind.
See the LSB Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
LSB Footnotes
Lit drag
Lit flesh
Lit sons of the house
Or futility, so in ch
Lit evil
Lit dominion
Lit There is nothing good in man, who should eat
As in Gr; Heb me
LSB

Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation

All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc.

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For more information on this translation, see the LSB Preface.

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Ecclesiastes Chapter 2 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras