Online Bible

Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 2

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Ecclesiastes 2 RSV - Revised Standard VersionEcclesiastes 2 RSV - Revised Standard Version

Chapter 2 of Ecclesiastes—Revised Standard Version (RSV)

  1. ¶ I said to myself, “Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.
  2. I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”
  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.
  4. I made great works; I built houses and planted vineyards for myself;
  5. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.
  6. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.
  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.
  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,[a] man’s delight.
  9. ¶ So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me.
  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.
  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.
  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.
  13. Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.
  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.
  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.
  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!
  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.
  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;
  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.
  20. So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun,
  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.
  22. What has a man from all the toil and strain with which he toils beneath the sun?
  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.
  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;
  25. for apart from him[b] who can eat or who can have enjoyment?
  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.

FOOTNOTES

  1. ^ The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
  2. ^ Gk Syr: Heb apart from me

Read Ecclesiastes Chapter 2 in other Bible versions:

Comments

  1. David yakubuDavid yakubu
    Oct 29, 2022 08:05 GMT

    When i do read some comments and seeing that its the same people that are supposed to be called believers but are talking ill of other denominations, it hurts. Let us all remember that We should judge not

    1. jonas smithjonas smith
      Apr 23, 2023 02:57 GMT

      The bible tells us to test the spirits. Satan disguises himself as angel of light. So yes some denomination are not teaching the truth. You are responsible for judging which ones are not. You have to judge the truth at all times. this is what the bible teaches

  2. THTH
    Apr 7, 2021 00:20 GMT

    The NWT is a very good translation. Dr. Jason David BeDuhn PhD attests to that in his book Truth in Translation. drive.google.com/...5p16melHzg8/view

    1. James LernerJames Lerner
      Jul 20, 2024 09:48 GMT

      The NWT is Satanic filth to its very core.

      The JW Cult is Satanic to its very core.

      Praise Yahweh I will never be a victim of JW brainwashing. If I burn in Hell for eternity or I am ultimately annihilated so be it

      May Yahweh's curse rest on the Watchtower Society and its Satanic leadership

    2. jim mcleodjim mcleod
      Aug 22, 2021 06:16 GMT

      NWT is a false translation that takes away from the deity of Jesus !

  3. SlightlyChaoticSlightlyChaotic
    Jan 30, 2021 16:33 GMT

    Thank you for taking the time to provide this service. I like seeing the NASB on your web page in the same format as I read on paper. On other sites, the text area is smaller, and so I have to keep scrolling down to read and sometimes I lose the context. So I really appreciate the format.

    As far as the NWT, you are certainly free to do whatever you think best with your own web pages. I'd suggest that you make a note anytime you have a translation that is associated with only one denomination or church, for example:
    New World Translation (Jehovah's Witness version).

    In Jesus' parable of the wheat and the tares. the main idea seems to be that you can't easily distinguish between God's people and not-God's people on this earth, so our Lord's response is to wait until they are shown to be the kind of people they are inside. But the NWT seems like false teaching to me. So I think the warning passages from Jesus' apostles are more applicable, as in 2 Peter 3:15-16, when he talks about Paul's writings:
    "There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures."
    And we also have the positive exhortations, as in 2 Timothy 2:15:
    "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."

    1. BroderickBroderick
      Jan 31, 2021 00:57 GMT

      Your suggestion regarding the denominational flagging is duly noted. But I can’t help but wonder, wouldn’t a Catholic also want “Protestant versions” marked as well?

      As for the parable, I’m pretty sure the slaves were convinced in their own minds that they could tell the tares from the wheat. After all, aren’t they the ones who identified the problem in the first place? But the master obviously thought otherwise.

      Furthermore, even at the time when Jesus himself was walking the earth, not everybody who claimed fellowship actually followed him causing John to inquire at Mark 9:39, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him . . . for he who is not against us is for us.”

  4. Joshua HarderJoshua Harder
    Dec 11, 2020 17:48 GMT

    Hello, question.. why have you included the NWT with other legitimate bible translations? Or why have you not atleast included a warning to readers? Don't you fear that someone could be influenced by the Watchtower's intentional heresies? Thank you.

    1. KevinKevin
      Jul 11, 2021 17:45 GMT

      en.m.wikipedia.org/..._Holy_Scriptures

      See the section critical review

    2. ChrisChris
      Jan 8, 2021 07:15 GMT

      Please site these intentional heresies. I am well versed in the watch tower outline and agree they are in many ways incorrect but i also bet i can point many out from EVERY established or main denomination. There is much to learn from them all as one who drinks milk?

      Judge not lest ye be judged, that is not to pass judgement on you either brother.

      I debate with scripture. I don't hold it to be true that Michael is Y'Shua HaMeshiach but I also firmly hold it to be true that our G-d and Heavenly Father are not the word encarnate and only begotten son.

      I love not seeing "lord" which i relate to baal. I feel the catholic church is a satanic establishment and I am aware a freemason started the hovies but there are evil in high places and our fight is also with principalities.

      What i'm saying is that in my darkest hours, those two were some of if not the only ones who would bring a Bible and eucharist and pray with me.

      We all fall short of the glory of G-d.

      Don't forget the NWT was recognized as the most accurate translation on Jeopardy.

      Lastly, this is different I noted than the NWT i have read and am very familiar with. Pull up the watchtower page and compare. I truly look forward to getting this one!

  5. julietjuliet
    Aug 17, 2022 09:36 GMT

    the sky is blue

  6. mercymercy
    Aug 12, 2022 21:23 GMT

    i am Mercy, the sky is blue what else do you need

    1. mercymercy
      Aug 12, 2022 21:25 GMT

      i am so sorry, it was a big mistake

  7. God is able to do all thingsGod is able to do all things
    May 17, 2021 17:59 GMT

    Jesus how much love calling yo name

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