Ecclesiastes 2 NLT NIV Parallel

◄ Ecclesiastes 2 ►

NLT Parallel NIV [BSB CSB ESV HCS KJV ISV NAS NET NIV NLT HEB]

New Living Translation

New International Version

1I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless.

1I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless.

2So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?”

2"Laughter," I said, "is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?"

3After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.

3I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly--my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.

4I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards.

4I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards.

5I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees.

5I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.

6I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate my many flourishing groves.

6I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees.

7I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born into my household. I also owned large herds and flocks, more than any of the kings who had lived in Jerusalem before me.

7I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me.

8I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces. I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had many beautiful concubines. I had everything a man could desire!

8I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well--the delights of a man's heart.

9So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me.

9I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

10Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors.

10I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil.

11But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere. The Wise and the Foolish

11Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

12So I decided to compare wisdom with foolishness and madness (for who can do this better than I, the king? ).

12Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king's successor do than what has already been done?

13I thought, “Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness.

13I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.

14For the wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark.” Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share the same fate.

14The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both.

15Both will die. So I said to myself, “Since I will end up the same as the fool, what’s the value of all my wisdom? This is all so meaningless!”

15Then I said to myself, "The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?" I said to myself, "This too is meaningless."

16For the wise and the foolish both die. The wise will not be remembered any longer than the fool. In the days to come, both will be forgotten.

16For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die!

17So I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless—like chasing the wind. The Futility of Work

17So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

18I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave to others everything I have earned.

18I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.

19And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish? Yet they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work under the sun. How meaningless!

19And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? 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.

20So I gave up in despair, questioning the value of all my hard work in this world.

20So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun.

21Some people work wisely with knowledge and skill, then must leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn’t worked for it. This, too, is meaningless, a great tragedy.

21For 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.

22So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety?

22What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?

23Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night their minds cannot rest. It is all meaningless.

23All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.

24So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God.

24A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God,

25For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him?

25for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?

26God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him. This, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

26To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

New International Version (NIV)

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