Banchory Christian Fellowship Church
Religion & Spirituality:Christianity
Ecclesiastes 2:12-26
English Standard Version Anglicised
The Vanity of Living Wisely
12 So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. 13 Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in 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. 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. 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! 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.
The Vanity of Toil
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, 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. 20 So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labours 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. 22 What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath 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.
24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment[a] in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, 25 for apart from him[b] who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Footnotes
19th May 2024 - "Two Ways to Suffer" - 1 Peter 4:12-19
12th May 2024 - "Life Together" - 1 Peter 4:7-11
5th May 2024 - "Jesus Our Perfect King" - Luke 23:1-43
28th April 2024 - "THINKING LIKE JESUS" - 1 Peter 4:1-6
21st April 2024 - "Living for the Victorious Saviour" - 1 Peter 3:8-22
PM 14th April 2024 - "A family of followers" - Mark 3:31-35
14th April 2024 - "Count it all joy" - James 1:1-12
7th April 2024 - "What does God look like?" - 2 Corinthians 4:6
31st March 2024 - "CHRIST IS RISEN!" - Luke 24:1-12
24th March 2024 - "Behold Your King" - Luke 19:28-40
17th March 2024 - "LIVING FOR JESUS AT HOME" - 1 Peter 3:1-12
10th March 2024 - "FOLLOWING THE STEPS OF JESUS" - 1 Peter 2:18-25
3rd March 2024 - "TESTING JESUS" - Matthew 22:15-22
25th February 2024 - "Living as God's People in the World" - 1 Peter 2:11-17
18th February 2024 - "The Real Jesus" - Mark 8:27-38(ESV)
11th February 2024 - "BUILT ON A SURE FOUNDATION" - 1 Peter 2:4-10
4th February 2024 - "An Invitation From The King" - Matthew 22:1-14
28th January 2024 - "Serving & Showing Christ at Home & Work" - Ephesians 6:1-9
21st January 2024 - "Happy Exiles in Hard Times" - 1 Peter 1:3-12
14th January 2024 - ”Rejected by the World, Chosen by God” - 1 Peter 1:1-2
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