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
16th April 2023 - ”What’s in a name?” - Exodus 3:7-22
9th April 2023 - ”Jesus Appears to the Disciples” - John 20:19-31
26th March 2023 - ”GOD COMES DOWN” - Exodus 3:1-10
19th March 2023 - ”God Sees, God Knows” - Exodus 2
12th March 2023 - ”Dark Clouds, Big Promises” - Exodus 1 (ESV)
5th March 2023 - ”IF GOD BE FOR US...” - 2 Kings 6:8-23 (ESV)
26th February 2023 - ”What Kind of Leaders?” - Acts 20:2-38
19th February 2023 - ”Following Jesus is Costly” - Acts 19:11-20:1
12th February 2023 - ”Truth Really Matters” - Acts 18:24-19:10
5th February 2023 - ”OUNUMBERED, NOT OVERPOWERED” - 1 Kings 18:16-39
29th January 2023 - ”GOD MOVES IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS” - Acts 18:1-23
22nd January 2023 - ”THE GOD YOU NEED TO KNOW” - Acts 17:16-34
15th January 2023 - ”PREACH-SUFFER-REPEAT” - Acts 17:1-15
8th January 2023 - ”Chains Shall He Break” - Acts 16_16-40
1st January 2023 - ”Choose Wisely” - 2 Chronicles 1:7-13
25th December 2022 - ”Christmas Day Service” - Luke 2:1-16
18th December 2022 - ”BORN TO GIVE SECOND BIRTH” - John 3:1-21
11th December 2022 - ”WHO IS GOD AND LORD OF ALL” - John 1:1-18
27th November 2022 - ”God’s Mission Breaks New Ground” - Acts 15:36 - 16:15
20th November 2022 - ”WHAT MAKES US CHRISTIAN” - Acts 15:1-35
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