Ecclesiastes 2:18-26
The Vanity of Toil
18I hated aall my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must bleave it to the man who will come after me, 19and 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. 20So I cturned about and gave my heart up to despair dover all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21because 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. 22What has a man from eall the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? 23For fall his days are full of sorrow, and his gwork is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.24 hThere is nothing better for a person than that he should ieat and drink and find enjoyment ▼
▼Or and make his soul see good
in his toil. This also, I saw, is kfrom the hand of God, 25for apart from him ▼▼Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts apart from me
who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26For to the one who pleases him mGod has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given nthe business of gathering and collecting, oonly to give to one who pleases God. pThis also is vanity and a striving after wind.
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