Ecclesiastes · God's Word for You (Latin American Textual Bible)
Ecclesiastes 2 God's Word for You (Latin American Textual Bible)
Audio: Reina-Valera Antigua (RVA), read by Joyfull · About the recordings
PDT God's Word for You (Latin American Textual Bible)
WEB World English Bible (Classic, with Deuterocanon)
1 Dije en mi corazón: ¡Ven pues, te deleitaré con el placer! ¡Prueba la felicidad! ¡Diviértete! Pero ciertamente esto también era vanidad.
1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure;” and behold, this also was vanity.
2 A la risa dije: ¡Necia! Y al placer: ¿Qué logras?
2 I said of laughter, “It is foolishness;” and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”
3 Aunque mi corazón me guiaba con sabiduría, investigué con mi mente cómo deleitar mi cuerpo con vino, y a la vez andar con sabiduría y retener la insensatez, hasta ver cuál sería el bien para que lo hagan los hijos de hombres bajo el cielo todos los días de su vida.
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 Engrandecí mis obras, me edifiqué palacios y planté viñas para mí.
4 I made myself great works. I built myself houses. I planted myself vineyards.
5 Me hice huertos y jardines, y planté toda clase de árboles frutales.
5 I made myself gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit.
6 Me hice estanques de agua para regar el bosque donde crecían mis árboles.
6 I made myself pools of water, to water the forest where trees were grown.
7 Compré esclavos y esclavas, y tuve otros nacidos en casa. También tuve una gran hacienda de ganado vacuno y rebaños, más que todos mis predecesores en Jerusalén.
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 Acumulé plata y oro para mí, y tesoros de reyes y provincias. Contraté cantores y cantoras, y los placeres de los hombres: muchas concubinas.
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 Fui grande y crecí más que los que me precedieron en Jerusalén. Mi sabiduría también permaneció conmigo.
9 So I was great, and increased more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also remained with me.
10 Nada de lo que mis ojos deseaban les negué, Ni privé mi corazón de algún placer. Pues mi corazón gozaba de toda mi labor, Y ésta fue mi parte de todo mi trabajo.
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 Consideré yo luego todas las obras que hicieron mis manos, Y el duro trabajo con el cual las hice. ¡Y ciertamente todo era vanidad Y correr tras el viento! No había algún provecho bajo el sol.
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 Después volví a considerar la sabiduría, la locura y la necedad. Porque ¿qué hará el hombre que entre como heredero del rey Que no sea lo que ya se hizo?
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 Vi que la sabiduría aventaja a la necedad Como la luz a la oscuridad.
13 Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness.
14 Los ojos del sabio están en su cabeza, Pero el necio anda en la oscuridad. También entendí que una misma cosa acontece a ambos.
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 a mí mismo: Como el destino del necio, Así me acontecerá a mí. ¿Para qué, entonces fui muy sabio? Y me dije: También esto es vanidad.
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 Porque ni del sabio ni del necio habrá memoria para siempre. Pues en los días venideros todo será olvidado. ¿Y cómo muere el sabio? ¡Como el necio!
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 Aborrecí la vida, porque la obra que se hace bajo el sol me era fastidiosa, por cuanto todo es vanidad y 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 Así que aborrecí todo mi trabajo por el cual laboré bajo el sol, al ver que tenía que dejarlo a alguno que vendrá después de mí.
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 sabe si será sabio o necio? Sin embargo, él ejercerá el dominio de todo el fruto de mi trabajo por el cual laboré al actuar sabiamente bajo el sol. También esto es vanidad.
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 Por tanto, me desesperé completamente por todo el fruto de mi labor que realicé bajo el sol.
20 Therefore I began to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor in which I had labored under the sun.
21 ¡Que un hombre que trabajó con sabiduría, conocimiento y destreza, y deje su legado a otro que no trabajó por ello! ¡Esto también es vanidad y grande mal!
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 Porque ¿qué obtiene un hombre de todo su trabajo y de su esfuerzo con el cual labora bajo el sol?
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 Porque todos sus días su tarea es dolorosa y pesada. Aun en la noche su mente no reposa. Esto también es vanidad.
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 cosa mejor para el hombre que comer y beber, y que su alma vea lo bueno de su trabajo. También vi que esto proviene de la mano de ʼElohim.
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 Porque, ¿quién come y se regocija sin Él?
25 For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?
26 Porque al hombre que le agrada, Él le da sabiduría, conocimiento y gozo. Pero al pecador le impone la tarea de recoger y amontonar para darlo al que agrada a ʼElohim. Esto también es vanidad y correr tras el viento.
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 (26)
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
- 5 Song of Songs 6:2; Luke 17:27–29; Song of Songs 4:12–5:1; Genesis 2:8–9; Jeremiah 39:4
- 6 Nehemiah 2:14; Song of Songs 7:4; Psalm 1:3; Jeremiah 17:8
- 7 2 Chronicles 32:27–29; Genesis 13:2; 2 Kings 3:4; 1 Kings 9:20–22; 2 Chronicles 26:10
- 8 1 Kings 10:10; 1 Kings 9:28; 2 Samuel 19:35; 1 Kings 10:14; 1 Chronicles 25:6
- 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
- 14 Psalm 49:10; Proverbs 17:24; Ecclesiastes 9:11; Ecclesiastes 9:1–3; 1 John 2:11
- 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
- 21 Ecclesiastes 2:17–18; Ecclesiastes 9:18; Jeremiah 22:15; 2 Chronicles 31:20–21; 2 Chronicles 35:18
- 22 Psalm 127:2; Ecclesiastes 1:3; Ecclesiastes 3:9; Ecclesiastes 4:6; Philippians 4:6
- 23 Job 14:1; Job 5:7; Job 7:13–14; Psalm 127:2; Psalm 6:6–7
- 24 Ecclesiastes 3:22; 1 Timothy 6:17; Ecclesiastes 8:15; Ecclesiastes 3:12–13; Ecclesiastes 5:18–19
- 25 Ecclesiastes 2:1–12
- 26 Proverbs 13:22; Job 27:16–17; Proverbs 28:8; John 16:24; Isaiah 3:10–11
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)