Ecclesiastes 2:13-15 in English

¹³ Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walketh in darkness: and yet I perceived that one event happeneth to them all.

¹⁵ Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then said I in my heart, that this also is vanity.

¹³ And I saw that wisdom excels folly, as much as light excels darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walks in darkness: and I perceived, even I, that one event shall happen to them all.

¹⁵ And I said in my heart, As the event of the fool is, so shall it be to me, even to me; and to what purpose have I gained wisdom? I said moreover in my heart, This is also vanity, because the fool speaks of his abundance.

¹³ Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.

¹⁵ Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.

¹³ Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.

¹⁵ Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.

¹³ And I saw that wisdom excels folly, as much as light excels darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walks in darkness: and I perceived, even I, that one event shall happen to them all.

¹⁵ And I said in my heart, As the event of the fool is, so shall it be to me, even to me: and to what purpose have I gained wisdom? I said moreover in my heart, This is also vanity, because the fool speaks of his abundance.

¹³ Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walketh in darkness: and yet I perceived that one event happeneth to them all.

¹⁵ Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also was vanity.

¹³ And I thought, “Surely it is better to be wise than to be foolish, like light is better than darkness,

¹⁴ because wise people walk in the daylight and IDM can see where they are going, but foolish people walk in the darkness and cannot see where they are going.” But I also realized that both wise people and foolish people eventually die.

¹⁵ So I said to myself, “I am very wise, but I will die at the end of my life, like foolish people do. So ◄how has it benefited me to be very wise?/it certainly has not benefited me to be very wise RHQ►. I do not understand why people consider that it is valuable to be wise.

¹³ And I saw that wisdom excels folly, as much as light excels darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walks in darkness: and I perceived, even I, that one event shall happen to them all.

¹⁵ And I said in my heart, As the event of the fool is, so shall it be to me, even to me: and to what purpose have I gained wisdom? I said moreover in my heart, This is also vanity, because the fool speaks of his abundance.

¹³ Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness—and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.

¹⁵ Then I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.

¹³ Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness—and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.

¹⁵ Then I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.

¹³ Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness—and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.

¹⁵ Then I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.

¹³ Then I saw that wisdom is better than foolish ways — as the light is better than the dark.

¹⁴ The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the foolish man goes walking in the dark; but still I saw that the same event comes to them all.

¹⁵ Then said I in my heart: As it comes to the foolish man, so will it come to me; so why have I been wise overmuch? Then I said in my heart: This again is to no purpose.

¹³ And I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as light excelleth darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walketh in darkness; but I myself also perceived that one event happeneth to them all.

¹⁵ And I said in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool so will it happen even to me; and why was I then so wise? Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.

¹³ And I saw that wisdom excelled folly, as much as light differeth from darkness.

¹⁴ The eyes of a wise man are in his head: the fool walketh in darkness: and I learned that they were to die both alike.

¹⁵ And I said in my heart: If the death of the fool and mine shall be one, what doth it avail me, that I have applied myself more to the study of wisdom? And speaking with my own mind, I perceived that this also was vanity.

¹³ I recognized that wisdom is better than foolishness just as light is better than darkness.

¹⁴ The wise see where they're going, but fools walk in darkness. But I also realized that they all come to the same end.

¹⁵ Then I thought to myself, “If I'm going to end up the same as a fool, what's the point of being so wise?” So I thought to myself, “This is also hard to understand!”

¹³ Then I saw that there is profite in wisdome, more then in follie: as the light is more excellent then darkenes.

¹⁴ For the wise mans eyes are in his head, but the foole walketh in darknes: yet I know also that the same condition falleth to them all.

¹⁵ Then I thought in mine heart, It befalleth vnto me, as it befalleth to ye foole. Why therefore doe I then labour to be more wise? And I sayd in mine heart, that this also is vanitie.

¹³ Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man, his eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness. And I also perceived that one event happeneth to them all.

¹⁵ Then said I in my heart: 'As it happeneth to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise?' Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.

¹³ Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.

¹⁵ Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.

¹³ But I saw indeed that wisdom hath the advantage over folly, as great as the advantage of light over darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man hath his eyes in his head, while the fool walketh in darkness; but I myself perceived then also that one occurrence will befall all of them.

¹⁵ Then said I in my heart, The same that befalleth the fool will also befall even me: and why have I then been wiser? Then spoke I in my heart, that this is also vanity.

¹³ And I saw that wisdom excels folly, As much as light excels darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man’s eyes are in his head; But the fool walks in darkness: And I perceived, even I, That one event shall happen to them all.

¹⁵ And I said in my heart, As the event of the fool is, So shall it be to me, even to me; And to what purpose have I gained wisdom? I said moreover in my heart, This is also vanity, Because the fool speaks of his abundance.

¹³ I saw, indeed, that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walketh in darkness; yet I perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.

¹⁵ Then I said in my heart, “As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth to me. Why, then, became I wiser than others?” Then I said in my heart, “This also is vanity.”

¹³ Then I began to understand that wisdom has advantages over folly, just as light is better than darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man uses his eyes in his head to see where he is going, but the fool walks in darkness, although I know the same event happens to all of them.

¹⁵ Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool, will also happen to me. So what difference does it make if I am very wise?” I concluded in my heart, “This too is only vapor.”

¹³ Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness—and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.

¹⁵ Then I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.

¹³ Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness—and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.

¹⁵ Then I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.

¹³ Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.

¹⁵ Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.

¹³ Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness—and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.

¹⁵ Then I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.

¹³ Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness—and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.

¹⁵ Then I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.

¹³ And I saw, that wisdom went so much before folly, as much as light is diverse from darknesses.

¹⁴ The eyes of a wise man be in his head, a fool goeth in darknesses; and I learned, that one perishing was of ever either.

¹⁵ And I said in mine heart, If one death shall be both of the fool and of me, what profiteth it to me, that I gave more busyness to wisdom? And I spake with my soul, and perceived, that this also was vanity.

¹³ And I saw, that wisdom went so much before folly, as much as light is diverse from darknesses.

¹⁴ The eyes of a wise man be in his head, (and) a fool goeth in darknesses; and I learned, that one perishing was of ever either. (The eyes of a wise person be in his head, and a fool goeth in the darkness; but I learned, that the same perishing, or the same death, would come to both of them.)

¹⁵ And I said in mine heart, If one death shall be both of the fool and of me, what profiteth it to me, that I gave more busyness to wisdom? And I spake with my soul, and perceived, that this also was vanity. (And I said in my heart, If one death shall be for both the fool and for me, what profiteth it to me, that I gave more busyness, or more effort and study, to wisdom? And I spoke with myself, and understood, that this was also empty and futile.)

¹³ And I saw that there is an advantage to wisdom above folly, like the advantage of the light above the darkness.

¹⁴ The wise! — his eyes are in his head, and the fool in darkness is walking, and I also knew that one event happeneth with them all;

¹⁵ and I said in my heart, 'As it happeneth with the fool, it happeneth also with me, and why am I then more wise?' And I spake in my heart, that also this is vanity: