Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 2

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Ecclesiastes 2 NASB - New American Standard Bible

Chapter 2 of Ecclesiastes—New American Standard Bible (NASB)

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1. ¶ I said ^[a]to myself, “Come now, I will test you with ¹pleasure. So ^[b]enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility.
2. ²I said of laughter, “It is madness,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?”
3. I explored with my ^[c]mind how to ³stimulate my body with wine while my ^[d]mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of ⁴folly, until I could see ⁵what good there is for the sons of men ^[e]to do under heaven the few ^[f]years of their lives.
4. I enlarged my works: I ⁶built houses for myself, I planted ⁷vineyards for myself;
5. I made ⁸gardens and ⁹parks for myself and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees;
6. I made ¹⁰ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees.
7. I bought male and female slaves and I had ^[g]11homeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and ¹²herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.
8. Also, I collected for myself silver and ¹³gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself ¹⁴male and female singers and the pleasures of men—many concubines.
9. ¶ Then I became ¹⁵great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me.
10. ¹⁶All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my ¹⁷reward for all my labor.
11. Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had ^[h]exerted, and behold all was ^[i]18vanity and striving after wind and there was ¹⁹no profit under the sun.
12. ¶ So I turned to ²⁰consider wisdom, madness and folly; for what will the man do who will come after the king except ²¹what has already been done?
13. And I saw that ²²wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.
14. The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the ²³fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that ²⁴one fate befalls them both.
15. Then I said ^[j]to myself, “²⁵As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. ²⁶Why then have I been extremely wise?” So ^[k]I said to myself, “This too is vanity.”
16. For there is ²⁷no ^[l]lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And ²⁸how the wise man and the fool alike die!
17. So I ²⁹hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was ^[m]grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.
18. ¶ Thus I hated ³⁰all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must ³¹leave it to the man who will come after me.
19. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or ³²a fool? Yet he will have ^[n]control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is ³³vanity.
20. Therefore I ^[o]completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun.
21. When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and ³⁴skill, then he ³⁵gives his ^[p]legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil.
22. For what does a man get in ³⁶all his labor and in ^[q]his striving with which he labors under the sun?
23. Because all his days his task is painful and ³⁷grievous; even at night his ^[r]mind ³⁸does not rest. This too is vanity.
24. ¶ There is ³⁹nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and ^[s]tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is ⁴⁰from the hand of God.
25. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without ^[t]Him?
26. For to a person who is good in His sight ⁴¹He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may ⁴²give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is ⁴³vanity and striving after wind.

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FOOTNOTES

1. ^ Lit in my heart
2. ^ Lit consider with goodness
3. ^ Lit heart
4. ^ Lit heart
5. ^ Lit which they do
6. ^ Lit days
7. ^ Lit sons of the house
8. ^ Lit labored to do
9. ^ Or futility, and so throughout the ch
10. ^ Lit in my heart
11. ^ Lit I spoke in my heart
12. ^ Lit forever
13. ^ Lit evil
14. ^ Lit dominion
15. ^ Lit turned aside my heart to despair
16. ^ Lit share
17. ^ Lit the striving of his heart
18. ^ Lit heart
19. ^ Lit cause his soul to see good in his labor
20. ^ So Gr; Heb me

REFERENCES

1. ^ Ec 7:4; 8:15
2. ^ Pr 14:13; Ec 7:3, 6
3. ^ Jg 9:13; Ps 104:15; Ec 10:19
4. ^ Ec 7:25
5. ^ Ec 2:24; 3:12, 13; 5:18; 6:12; 8:15; 12:13
6. ^ 1Ki 7:1-12
7. ^ Sg 8:11
8. ^ Sg 4:16; 5:1
9. ^ Ne 2:8
10. ^ Ne 2:14; 3:15, 16
11. ^ Ge 14:14; 15:3
12. ^ 1Ki 4:23
13. ^ 1Ki 9:28; 10:10, 14, 21
14. ^ 2Sa 19:35
15. ^ 1Ch 29:25; Ec 1:16
16. ^ Ec 6:2
17. ^ Ec 3:22; 5:18; 9:9
18. ^ Ec 1:14; 2:22, 23
19. ^ Ec 1:3; 3:9; 5:16
20. ^ Ec 1:17
21. ^ Ec 1:9, 10; 3:15
22. ^ Ec 7:11, 12, 19; 9:18; 10:10
23. ^ 1Jo 2:11
24. ^ Ps 49:10; Ec 3:19; 6:6; 7:2; 9:2, 3
25. ^ Ec 2:16
26. ^ Ec 6:8, 11
27. ^ Ec 1:11; 9:5
28. ^ Ec 2:14
29. ^ Ec 4:2, 3
30. ^ Ec 1:3; 2:11
31. ^ Ps 39:6; 49:10
32. ^ 1Ki 12:13
33. ^ 1Ti 6:10
34. ^ Ec 4:4
35. ^ Ec 2:18
36. ^ Ec 1:3; 2:11
37. ^ Jb 5:7; 14:1; Ec 1:18; 5:17
38. ^ Ps 127:2
39. ^ Ec 2:3; 3:12, 13, 22; 5:18; 6:12; 8:15; 9:7; Is 56:12; Lu 12:19; 1Co 15:32; 1Ti 6:17
40. ^ Ec 3:13
41. ^ Jb 32:8; Pr 2:6
42. ^ Jb 27:16, 17; Pr 13:22
43. ^ Ec 1:14

Read Ecclesiastes Chapter 2 in other Bible versions:

• Ecclesiastes Chapter 2 - ASV
• Ecclesiastes Chapter 2 - KJV
• Ecclesiastes Chapter 2 - NWT
• Ecclesiastes Chapter 2 - RSV