Catholic Public Domain Version
"though I know not whether he will be wise or foolish. And yet he will have power over my labors, in which I have toiled and been anxious. And is there anything else so empty? "
— Ecclesiastes 2:19, Catholic Public Domain Version
“And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.”
“And who knoweth whether he will be a wise man or a fool? yet will he have rule over all my labor wherein I have labored, and wherein I have showed myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. ”
“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.”
“Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master over all the fruit of my labor for which I worked so wisely on earth! This also is futile!”
“Whom I know not whether he will be a wise man or a fool, and he shall have rule over all my labours with which I have laboured and been solicitous: and is there anything so vain?”
“And who is to say if that man will be wise or foolish? But he will have power over all my work which I have done and in which I have been wise under the sun. This again is to no purpose.”
“And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.”
For there will not be a remembrance in perpetuity of the wise, nor of the foolish. And the future times will cover everything together, with oblivion. The learned die in a manner similar to the unlearned.
And, because of this, my life wearied me, since I saw that everything under the sun is evil, and everything is empty and an affliction of the spirit.
Again, I detested all my efforts, by which I had earnestly labored under the sun, to be taken up by an heir after me,
though I know not whether he will be wise or foolish. And yet he will have power over my labors, in which I have toiled and been anxious. And is there anything else so empty?
Therefore, I ceased, and my heart renounced further laboring under the sun.
For when someone labors in wisdom, and doctrine, and prudence, he leaves behind what he has obtained to one who is idle. So this, too, is emptiness and a great burden.
For how can a man benefit from all his labor and affliction of spirit, by which he has been tormented under the sun?