Parallel Bible results for "ecclesiastes 2"

Ecclesiastes 2

The Latin Vulgate VUL

1 dixi ego in corde meo vadam et affluam deliciis et fruar bonis et vidi quod hoc quoque esset vanitas

2 risum reputavi errorem et gaudio dixi quid frustra deciperis

3 cogitavi in corde meo abstrahere a vino carnem meam ut animum meum transferrem ad sapientiam devitaremque stultitiam donec viderem quid esset utile filiis hominum quod facto opus est sub sole numero dierum vitae suae

4 magnificavi opera mea aedificavi mihi domos plantavi vineas

5 feci hortos et pomeria et consevi ea cuncti generis arboribus

6 extruxi mihi piscinas aquarum ut inrigarem silvam lignorum germinantium

7 possedi servos et ancillas multamque familiam habui armenta quoque et magnos ovium greges ultra omnes qui fuerunt ante me in Hierusalem

8 coacervavi mihi argentum et aurum et substantias regum ac provinciarum feci mihi cantores et cantrices et delicias filiorum hominum scyphos et urceos in ministerio ad vina fundenda

9 et supergressus sum opibus omnes qui fuerunt ante me in Hierusalem sapientia quoque perseveravit mecum

10 et omnia quae desideraverunt oculi mei non negavi eis nec prohibui cor quin omni voluptate frueretur et oblectaret se in his quae paraveram et hanc ratus sum partem meam si uterer labore meo

11 cumque me convertissem ad universa opera quae fecerant manus meae et ad labores in quibus frustra sudaveram vidi in omnibus vanitatem et adflictionem animi et nihil permanere sub sole

12 transivi ad contemplandam sapientiam erroresque et stultitiam quid est inquam homo ut sequi possit regem factorem suum

13 et vidi quia tantum praecederet sapientia stultitiam quantum differt lux tenebris

14 sapientis oculi in capite eius stultus in tenebris ambulat et didici quod unus utriusque esset interitus

15 et dixi in corde meo si unus et stulti et meus occasus erit quid mihi prodest quod maiorem sapientiae dedi operam locutusque cum mente mea animadverti quod hoc quoque esset vanitas

16 non enim erit memoria sapientis similiter ut stulti in perpetuum et futura tempora oblivione cuncta pariter obruent moritur doctus similiter et indoctus

17 et idcirco taeduit me vitae meae videntem mala esse universa sub sole et cuncta vanitatem atque adflictionem spiritus

18 rursum detestatus sum omnem industriam meam quae sub sole studiosissime laboravi habiturus heredem post me

19 quem ignoro utrum sapiens an stultus futurus sit et dominabitur in laboribus meis quibus desudavi et sollicitus fui et est quicquam tam vanum

20 unde cessavi renuntiavitque cor meum ultra laborare sub sole

21 nam cum alius laboret in sapientia et doctrina et sollicitudine homini otioso quaesita dimittit et hoc ergo vanitas et magnum malum

22 quid enim proderit homini de universo labore suo et adflictione spiritus qua sub sole cruciatus est

23 cuncti dies eius doloribus et aerumnis pleni sunt nec per noctem mente requiescit et haec non vanitas est

24 nonne melius est comedere et bibere et ostendere animae suae bona de laboribus suis et hoc de manu Dei est

25 quis ita vorabit et deliciis affluet ut ego

26 homini bono in conspectu suo dedit Deus sapientiam et scientiam et laetitiam peccatori autem dedit adflictionem et curam superfluam ut addat et congreget et tradat ei qui placuit Deo sed et hoc vanitas et cassa sollicitudo mentis

Good News Translation GNT

1 I decided to enjoy myself and find out what happiness is. But I found that this is useless, too.

2 I discovered that laughter is foolish, that pleasure does you no good.

3 Driven on by my desire for wisdom, I decided to cheer myself up with wine and have a good time. I thought that this might be the best way people can spend their short lives on earth.

4 I accomplished great things. I built myself houses and planted vineyards.

5 I planted gardens and orchards, with all kinds of fruit trees in them;

6 I dug ponds to irrigate them.

7 I bought many slaves, and there were slaves born in my household. I owned more livestock than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem.

8 I also piled up silver and gold from the royal treasuries of the lands I ruled. Men and women sang to entertain me, and I had all the women a man could want.

9 Yes, I was great, greater than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem, and my wisdom never failed me.

10 Anything I wanted, I got. I did not deny myself any pleasure. I was proud of everything I had worked for, and all this was my reward.

11 Then I thought about all that I had done and how hard I had worked doing it, and I realized that it didn't mean a thing. It was like chasing the wind - of no use at all.

12 After all, a king can only do what previous kings have done. So I started thinking about what it meant to be wise or reckless or foolish.

13 Oh, I know, "Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness.

14 The wise can see where they are going, and fools cannot." But I also know that the same fate is waiting for us all.

15 I thought to myself, "What happens to fools is going to happen to me, too. So what have I gained from being so wise?" "Nothing," I answered, "not a thing."

16 No one remembers the wise, and no one remembers fools. In days to come, we will all be forgotten. We must all die - wise and foolish alike.

17 So life came to mean nothing to me, because everything in it had brought me nothing but trouble. It had all been useless; I had been chasing the wind.

18 Nothing that I had worked for and earned meant a thing to me, because I knew that I would have to leave it to my successor,

19 and he might be wise, or he might be foolish - who knows? Yet he will own everything I have worked for, everything my wisdom has earned for me in this world. It is all useless.

20 So I came to regret that I had worked so hard.

21 You work for something with all your wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then you have to leave it all to someone who hasn't had to work for it. It is useless, and it isn't right!

22 You work and worry your way through life, and what do you have to show for it?

23 As long as you live, everything you do brings nothing but worry and heartache. Even at night your mind can't rest. It is all useless.

24 The best thing we can do is eat and drink and enjoy what we have earned. And yet, I realized that even this comes from God.

25 How else could you have anything to eat or enjoy yourself at all?

26 God gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness to those who please him, but he makes sinners work, earning and saving, so that what they get can be given to those who please him. It is all useless. It is like chasing the wind.