Ecclesiastes · Unlocked Literal Bible
Ecclesiastes 2 Unlocked Literal Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with happiness. So enjoy pleasure.” But look, this also was just a temporary breeze.
1 DIJE yo en mi corazón: Ven ahora, te probaré con alegría, y gozarás de bienes. Mas he aquí esto también era vanidad.
2 I said about laughter, “It is crazy,” and about pleasure, “What use is it?”
2 A la risa dije: Enloqueces; y al placer: ¿De qué sirve esto?
3 I explored in my heart how to gratify my desires with wine. I let my mind guide me with wisdom although I was still holding on to folly. I wanted to find out what is good for people to do under heaven during the days of their lives.
3 Propuse en mi corazón agasajar mi carne con vino, y que anduviese mi corazón en sabiduría, con retención de la necedad, hasta ver cuál fuese el bien de los hijos de los hombres, en el cual se ocuparan debajo del cielo todos los días de su vida.
4 I accomplished great things. I built houses for myself and planted vineyards.
4 Engrandecí mis obras, edifiquéme casas, plantéme viñas;
5 I built for myself gardens and parks; I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
5 Híceme huertos y jardines, y planté en ellos árboles de todos frutos;
6 I created pools of water to water a forest where trees were grown.
6 Híceme estanques de aguas, para regar de ellos el bosque donde los árboles crecían.
7 I purchased male slaves and female slaves; I had slaves born in my palace. I also had large herds and flocks of livestock, much more than any king who ruled before me in Jerusalem.
7 Poseí siervos y siervas, y tuve hijos de familia; también tuve posesión grande de vacas y ovejas, sobre todos los que fueron antes de mí en Jerusalem;
8 I also accumulated for myself silver and gold, the treasures of kings and provinces. I got male and female singers for myself—the delights of the children of humanity—and many concubines.
8 Alleguéme también plata y oro, y tesoro preciado de reyes y de provincias; híceme de cantores y cantoras, y los deleites de los hijos de los hombres, instrumentos músicos y de todas suertes.
9 So I became greater and wealthier than all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom remained with me.
9 Y fuí engrandecido, y aumentado más que todos los que fueron antes de mí en Jerusalem: á más de esto perseveró conmigo mi sabiduría.
10 Whatever my eyes desired, I did not withhold from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, because my heart rejoiced in all my labor and pleasure was my reward for all my work.
10 No negué á mis ojos ninguna cosa que desearan, ni aparté mi corazón de placer alguno, porque mi corazón gozó de todo mi trabajo: y ésta fué mi parte de toda mi faena.
11 Then I looked on all the deeds that my hands had accomplished, and on the work that I had done, but again, everything was vapor and an attempt to shepherd the wind. There was no profit under the sun in it.
11 Miré yo luego todas las obras que habían hecho mis manos, y el trabajo que tomé para hacer[las]: y he aquí, todo vanidad y aflicción de espíritu, y no hay provecho debajo del sol.
12 Then I turned to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. For what can the next king do who comes after the king, which has not already been done?
12 Después torné yo á mirar para ver la sabiduría y los desvaríos y la necedad; (porque ¿qué hombre [hay] que [pueda] seguir al rey [en] lo que ya hicieron?)
13 Then I began to understand that wisdom has advantages over folly, just as light is better than darkness.
13 Y he visto que la sabiduría sobrepuja á la necedad, como la luz á las tinieblas.
14 The wise man uses his eyes in his head to see where he is going, but the fool walks in darkness, although I know the same event happens to all of them.
14 El sabio tiene sus ojos en su cabeza, mas el necio anda en tinieblas: empero también entendí yo que un mismo suceso acaecerá al uno que al otro.
15 Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool, will also happen to me. So what difference does it make if I am very wise?” I concluded in my heart, “This too is only vapor.”
15 Entonces dije yo en mi corazón: Como sucederá al necio me sucederá también á mí: ¿para qué pues he trabajado hasta ahora por hacerme más sabio? Y dije en mi corazón, que también esto era vanidad.
16 For the wise man, like the fool, is not remembered for very long. In the days to come everything will have been long forgotten. The wise man dies just like the fool dies.
16 Porque ni del sabio ni del necio habrá memoria para siempre; pues en los días venideros ya todo será olvidado, y también morirá el sabio como el necio.
17 So I detested life because all the work done under the sun was evil to me. This was because everything is vapor and an attempt to shepherd the wind.
17 Aborrecí por tanto la vida; porque la obra que se hace debajo del sol me era fastidiosa; por cuanto todo es vanidad y aflicción de espíritu.
18 I hated all my accomplishments for which I had worked under the sun because I must leave them behind to the man who comes after me.
18 Yo asimismo aborrecí todo mi trabajo que había puesto por obra debajo del sol; el cual dejaré á otro que vendrá después de mí.
19 For who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master over everything under the sun that my work and wisdom have built. This also is vapor.
19 ¿Y quién sabe si será sabio, ó necio, el que se enseñoreará de todo mi trabajo en que yo me afané, y en que ocupé debajo del sol mi sabiduría? Esto también es vanidad.
20 Therefore my heart began to despair over all the work under the sun that I did.
20 Tornéme por tanto á desesperanzar mi corazón acerca de todo el trabajo en que me afané, y en que había ocupado debajo del sol mi sabiduría.
21 For there might be someone who works with wisdom, with knowledge, and skill, but he will leave everything he has to a man who has not made any of it. This also is vapor and a great tragedy.
21 ¡Que el hombre trabaje con sabiduría, y con ciencia, y con rectitud, y que haya de dar su hacienda á hombre que nunca trabajó en ello! También es esto vanidad y mal grande.
22 For what profit does the person gain who works so hard and tries in his heart to complete his labors under the sun?
22 Porque ¿qué tiene el hombre de todo su trabajo, y fatiga de su corazón, con que debajo del sol él se afanara?
23 Every day his work is painful and stressful, so at night his soul does not find rest. This also is vapor.
23 Porque todos sus días [no] son [sino] dolores, y sus trabajos molestias: aun de noche su corazón no reposa. Esto también es vanidad.
24 There is nothing better for anyone than to simply eat and drink and be satisfied with what is good in his work. I saw that this truth comes from God's hand.
24 No hay cosa mejor para el hombre [sino] que coma y beba, y que su alma vea el bien de su trabajo. También tengo yo visto que esto es de la mano de Dios.
25 For who can eat or who can have any kind of pleasure apart from God?
25 Porque ¿quién comerá, y quién se cuidará, mejor que yo?
26 For to anyone who pleases him, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy. However, to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and storing up so that he may give it away to someone who pleases God. This also amounts to vapor and an attempt to shepherd the wind.
26 Porque al hombre que le agrada, [Dios] le da sabiduría y ciencia y gozo: mas al pecador da trabajo, el que allegue y amontone, para que dé al que agrada á Dios. También esto es vanidad y aflicción de espíritu.
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)