English Standard Version ESV
New International Version NIV
13 Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness.
13
I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.
14 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.
14
The 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.
15 Then I said in my heart, "What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?" And I said in my heart that this also is vanity.
15
Then 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.”
16 For of the wise 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 dies just like the fool!
16
For 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!
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.
17
So 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.
18 I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me,
18
I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.
19 and who knows whether he will be wise 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.
19
And 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.
20 So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun,
20
So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun.
21 because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
21
For 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.
22 What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun?
22
What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?
23 For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.
23
All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.