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
20th Feb 2022 - ”God’s Mission: Planting & Building” - Acts 11:19-30
13th Feb 2022 - ”Breaking Down Walls” - Acts 10:1 - 11:18
6th Feb 2022 - ”Sin Spreads To People” - Genesis 4
23rd Jan 2022 - ”An Encounter With Jesus” - Acts 9:1-25
16th Jan 2022 - ”God’s Mission Moves” - Acts 8:26-40
9th Jan2022 - ”God’s Mission in Unlikely Places” - Acts 8:2-25
2nd Jan 2022 - ”What Does God Want From Me?” - Micah 6:1-8
26th Dec 2021 - ”Truly Free” - Galatians 4:1-7
25th Dec 2021 - ”Choose Wisely” - Matthew 2:1-12
19th Dec 2021 - ”Carol Service Message” - John 1:14-18
19th Dec 2021 - ”God‘s Promised Shepherd-King” - Micah 5:1-5
12th Dec 2021 - ”God‘s Promised Hope” - Isaiah 9:2-7
5th Dec 2021 - ”God‘s Promised Rescuer” - Genesis 3:1-15
21st Nov 2021 - ”A Message to Die For” - Acts 6:8 - 8:1
14th Nov 2021 - ”The Parable of the Great Banquet” - Luke 14:1-24
7th Nov 2021- ”The God Who Delivers” - Daniel 3
31st Oct 2021 - ”Service” - 1 Peter 4:10-11
24th Oct 2021- ”The Church Needs Fed” - Acts 6:1-7
17th Oct 2021 - ”THE CHURCH THAT (REALLY) WON‘T BE SILENCED” - Acts 5:12-42
10th Oct 2021 - ”HYPOCRISY IS DEADLY” - Acts 4:32 -5:11
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