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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Ecclesiastes 2 MSB</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader.js'></script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/ecclesiastes/2.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap//ecclesiastes/2-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">MSB</a> > Ecclesiastes 2</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/msb/menu.htm" width="100%" height="48" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../ecclesiastes/1.htm" title="Ecclesiastes 1">◄</a> Ecclesiastes 2 <a href="../ecclesiastes/3.htm" title="Ecclesiastes 3">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">Majority Standard Bible</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/bsb/heb/ecclesiastes/2.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><A name="2"></a><p class="hdg">The Futility of Pleasure<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!” <p class="reg"> But it proved to be futile. <A name="3"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>I said of laughter, “It is folly,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?” <A name="4"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>I sought to cheer my body with wine and to embrace folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—until I could see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives. <A name="5"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>I expanded my pursuits. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. <A name="6"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>I made gardens and parks for myself, where I planted all kinds of fruit trees. <A name="7"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>I built reservoirs to water my groves of flourishing trees. <A name="8"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>I acquired menservants and maidservants, and servants were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me, <A name="9"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>and I accumulated for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered to myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men—many concubines. <A name="10"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>So I became great and surpassed all in Jerusalem who had preceded me; and my wisdom remained with me. <A name="11"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>Anything my eyes desired, I did not deny myself. I refused my heart no pleasure. For my heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. <A name="12"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun. <A name="13"></a><p class="hdg">The Wise and the Foolish<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished? <A name="14"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness: <A name="15"></a><p class="indent1stline"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>The wise man has eyes in his head, <p class="indent2"> but the fool walks in darkness. <p class="reg"> Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both. <A name="16"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” <p class="reg"> And I said to myself that this too is futile. <A name="17"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool! <A name="18"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind. <A name="19"></a><p class="hdg">The Futility of Work<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me. <A name="20"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile. <A name="21"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>So my heart began to despair over all the labor that I had done under the sun. <A name="22"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great evil. <A name="23"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun? <A name="24"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile. <A name="25"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God. <A name="26"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>For apart from Him,<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">a</a></span> who can eat and who can find enjoyment? <span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/2-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.</p><A name="fn"></a><div id="fnlink"><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:</b><br><br><span class="fnverse">25</span> <span class="footnotesbot">a</span> Some Hebrew manuscripts, LXX, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts <i>apart from me</i> or <i>more than I</i><br><br /></div><br /></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><a href="//majoritybible.com">The Holy Bible, Majority Standard Bible, MSB</a> is produced in cooperation with <a href="//biblehub.com">Bible Hub</a>, <a href="//discoverybible.com">Discovery Bible</a>, <a href="//openbible.com">OpenBible.com</a>, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been <a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"> dedicated to the public domain</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>The MSB is the Byzantine Majority Text version of the BSB, including the BSB OT plus the NT translated according to the Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine Majority Text (<a href="https://byzantinetext.com/">byzantinetext.com</a>).<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>The MSB includes footnotes for translatable variants from the modern Critical Texts (CT) such as the Nestle Aland GNT, SBL GNT, and Editio Critica Maior.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>Major variants between the Majority Text (MT) and Textus Receptus (TR) are also noted. This text is a final version draft and is open to public comment and translation recommendations. please send all corrections and recommendations to the Berean Bible Translation Committee through the contact page at <a href="http://berean.bible">Berean.Bible</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../ecclesiastes/1.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Ecclesiastes 1"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Ecclesiastes 1" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../ecclesiastes/3.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Ecclesiastes 3"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Ecclesiastes 3" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div> <div id="mdd"><div align="center"><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td><div align="center"><script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script></div></td></tr></table></div></div></div> <br /><br /> <div align="center"> <div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhnew2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>