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Ecclesiastes 2 :: Revised Standard Version (RSV)

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:1

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:1 - I said to myself, "Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself." But behold, this also was vanity.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:2

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:2 - I said of laughter, "It is mad," and of pleasure, "What use is it?"

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:3

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:3 - I searched with my mind how to cheer my body with wine--my mind still guiding me with wisdom--and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven during the few days of their life.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:4

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

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:5

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:5 - I made myself gardens and parks, and 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 myself pools from which to water the 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 had slaves who were born in my house; I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:8

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:8 - I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, man's delight.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:9

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:9 - So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:10

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:10 - And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:11

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:11 - Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained 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 consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what he has already done.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:13

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:13 - Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:14

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:14 - The wise man has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness; and yet I perceived that one fate comes to all of them.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:15

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:15 - Then I said to myself, "What befalls the fool will befall me also; why then have I been so very wise?" And I said to myself that this also is vanity.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:16

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:16 - For of the wise man as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise man dies just like the fool!

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:17

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:17 - So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind.

The Futility of Labor

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:18

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:18 - I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that 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 fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:20

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:20 - So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun,

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:21

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:21 - because sometimes a man who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by a man who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:22

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:22 - What has a man from all the toil and strain with which he toils beneath the sun?

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:23

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:23 - For all his days are full of pain, and his work is a vexation; even in the night his mind does not rest. This also is vanity.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:24

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:24 - There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God;

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:25

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:25 - for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 2:26

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 2:26 - For to the man who pleases him God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and heaping, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
RSV

Downloaded from the Oxford Text Archive and used with permission. The following header is required to be posted:

Source: Transcribed from: The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version containing the Old and New Testaments, translated from the original tongues: being the version set forth A.D. 1611, revised A.D. 1881-1885 and A.D. 1901: compared with the most ancient authorities and revised A.D. 1946-52. — 2nd ed. of New Testament A.D. 1971. There should be enough in the rest of the description to identify the text.

Language: English

Availability: Freely available for non-commercial use provided that this header is included in its entirety with any copy distributed.

Pericope

Pericope taken from the NASB95 and has been graciously provided by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif.
All rights reserved.

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