Ecclesiastes · Biblica Open New Living Bible (Nueva Biblia Viva 2008)
Ecclesiastes 2 Biblica Open New Living Bible (Nueva Biblia Viva 2008)
Audio: Reina-Valera Antigua (RVA), read by Joyfull · About the recordings
ONBV Biblica Open New Living Bible (Nueva Biblia Viva 2008)
WEB World English Bible (Classic, with Deuterocanon)
1 Me dije entonces: «¡Anda, alégrate; sáciate de gozo!». Pero descubrí que esto también era vano.
1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure;” and behold, this also was vanity.
2 Porque es necedad reír todo el tiempo; ¿qué beneficio produce?
2 I said of laughter, “It is foolishness;” and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”
3 Así que, después de mucho pensarlo, resolví probar los placeres de la embriaguez, procurando aún encontrar la sabiduría. Luego volví a cambiar de rumbo y emprendí el camino de la frivolidad para experimentar la única felicidad que en toda su vida conoce la mayoría de la gente.
3 I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my heart yet guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold of folly, until I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under heaven all the days of their lives.
4 Después traté de hallar satisfacción inaugurando un amplio programa de obras públicas: casas, viñedos, jardines, parques y huertos para mí, y estanques para el regadío de mis plantaciones.
4 I made myself great works. I built myself houses. I planted myself vineyards.
5 Not in this translation
5 I made myself gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit.
6 Not in this translation
6 I made myself pools of water, to water the forest where trees were grown.
7 Luego compré esclavos y esclavas, y otros nacieron en mis propiedades. Crie grandes manadas y rebaños, más que cualquiera de los reyes que me precedieron. Recaudé plata y oro como tributo de muchos reyes y provincias. En el aspecto cultural, organicé coros y orquestas de hombres y mujeres. Y además tuve muchas y hermosas concubinas.
7 I bought male servants and female servants, and had servants born in my house. I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all who were before me in Jerusalem.
8 Not in this translation
8 I also gathered silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces. I got myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men: musical instruments of all sorts.
9 Así es que me engrandecí más que cualquiera de los reyes de Jerusalén que me antecedieron, y sin embargo mantuve mi perspicacia de modo que pude evaluar todo esto.
9 So I was great, and increased more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also remained with me.
10 Tomaba para mí cuanto se me antojaba, y no me privaba de ningún goce. Hasta en el trabajo arduo hallé placer. Este gusto fue en verdad la única recompensa de todas mis faenas.
10 Whatever my eyes desired, I didn’t keep from them. I didn’t withhold my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor, and this was my portion from all my labor.
11 Pero mirando cuanto había emprendido, me pareció tan inútil, como perseguir el viento sin que nada valiera realmente la pena.
11 Then I looked at all the works that my hands had worked, and at the labor that I had labored to do; and behold, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.
12 Entonces consideré la sabiduría y la insensatez, y cualquiera llegaría a la misma conclusión que yo:
12 I turned myself to consider wisdom, madness, and folly; for what can the king’s successor do? Just that which has been done long ago.
13 Que la sabiduría es más valiosa que la insensatez, así como la luz es mejor que las tinieblas; pues mientras el sabio ve, el necio está ciego. Y sin embargo observé que al sabio y al necio les espera el mismo final.
13 Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness.
14 Not in this translation
14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness—and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.
15 Entonces, me dije: «yo también moriré igual que el necio». Entonces, ¿de qué vale toda mi sabiduría? Así reconocí que aun la sabiduría es vana.
15 Then I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.
16 Pues nadie se acuerda del sabio ni del necio, y con el paso del tiempo todo cae en el olvido y tanto el sabio como el necio mueren.
16 For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no memory forever, since in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. Indeed, the wise man must die just like the fool!
17 Así es que ahora detesto la vida, pues es tan irracional; todo es insensatez, ¡es correr tras el viento!
17 So I hated life, because the work that is worked under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
18 Y esto es lo repugnante: que tenga yo que dejar a otros el fruto de mi ardua labor.
18 I hated all my labor in which I labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.
19 Y ¿quién podrá decir si mi hijo va a ser sabio o necio? Pero todo lo que tengo irá a sus manos; ¡qué desalentador!
19 Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all of my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
20 Desesperado, abandoné entonces el trabajo arduo, como respuesta a mi búsqueda de satisfacción. Pues hay quienes pasan la vida en busca de sabiduría, conocimientos y habilidad, para luego dejárselo todo a quien no se ha esforzado ni un día de su vida. Esto no sólo es necio sino injusto. Así pues, ¿qué obtiene el ser humano de toda su ardua labor? Días llenos de tristeza y dolor, y noches inquietas y amargas. Todo es absolutamente ridículo.
20 Therefore I began to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor in which I had labored under the sun.
21 Not in this translation
21 For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, with knowledge, and with skillfulness; yet he shall leave it for his portion to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
22 Not in this translation
22 For what does a man have of all his labor and of the striving of his heart, in which he labors under the sun?
23 Not in this translation
23 For all his days are sorrows, and his travail is grief; yes, even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
24 No hay nada mejor para el hombre y la mujer que disfrutar de su comida, su bebida y su trabajo. Entonces reconocí que aun este placer, procede de Dios. Porque, sin él, ¿quién puede comer o tener gozo? Porque Dios da sabiduría, conocimientos y gozo a quien es de su agrado; pero si un pecador se enriquece, Dios le quita la riqueza y se la entrega a quienes le agradan. Y también esto es absurdo, ¡es correr tras el viento!
24 There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.
25 Not in this translation
25 For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?
26 Not in this translation
26 For to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
Cross references (17)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Luke 12:19; Ecclesiastes 8:15; James 5:1; James 5:5; Psalm 27:8
- 2 Proverbs 14:13; Ecclesiastes 7:2–6; 1 Peter 4:2–4; Amos 6:3–6; Isaiah 22:12–13
- 3 Proverbs 20:1; Ecclesiastes 1:17; Proverbs 31:4–5; Ecclesiastes 6:12; Ecclesiastes 12:13
- 4 1 Kings 7:1–12; 2 Chronicles 8:11; 2 Chronicles 8:1–6; Psalm 49:11; 1 Kings 9:1
- 7 2 Chronicles 32:27–29; Genesis 13:2; 2 Kings 3:4; 1 Kings 9:20–22; 2 Chronicles 26:10
- 9 1 Chronicles 29:25; Ecclesiastes 1:16; 1 Kings 10:23; 2 Chronicles 9:22–23; 1 Kings 3:12
- 10 Ecclesiastes 9:9; Ecclesiastes 5:18; Ecclesiastes 3:22; Psalm 119:37; Psalm 128:2
- 11 Ecclesiastes 1:14; 1 John 2:16–17; Ecclesiastes 1:3; Genesis 1:31; Exodus 39:43
- 12 Ecclesiastes 1:17; Ecclesiastes 7:25; Ecclesiastes 1:9–10
- 13 Ephesians 5:8; Ecclesiastes 7:11–12; Matthew 6:23; Ecclesiastes 11:7; Malachi 3:18–4:2
- 15 Ecclesiastes 6:8; Ecclesiastes 1:14; Ecclesiastes 1:18–2:1; 1 Kings 3:12; Ecclesiastes 1:16
- 16 Ecclesiastes 1:11; Ecclesiastes 9:5; Malachi 3:16; Exodus 1:8; Psalm 88:12
- 17 Ecclesiastes 2:11; Ecclesiastes 4:2; Jonah 4:8; 1 Kings 19:4; Numbers 11:15
- 18 Psalm 39:6; Psalm 49:10; Luke 16:27–28; Luke 12:20; Ecclesiastes 5:18
- 19 Ecclesiastes 3:22; James 3:17; 1 Kings 14:25–28; Ecclesiastes 9:13; James 1:17
- 20 1 Thessalonians 3:3–4; Job 17:11–15; Psalm 39:6–7; Genesis 43:14; 2 Corinthians 1:8–10
- 24 Ecclesiastes 3:22; 1 Timothy 6:17; Ecclesiastes 8:15; Ecclesiastes 3:12–13; Ecclesiastes 5:18–19
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… is nothing substantial, nothing lasting, he bewails, among the other vanities that are under the sun, this also, that though wisdom excelleth folly as light excelleth darkness, and though the eyes of the wise man are in his head, while the fool walketh in darkness, yet one event happeneth to them all, that is to say, in this life under …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
Listen to Solomon, saying, "As far as light excelleth darkness, so doth wisdom excel folly." But how shall we instruct him that is in darkness?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)