Ecclesiastes 2:15

Bible in Basic English (1941)

Then said I in my heart: As it comes to the foolish man, so will it come to me; so why have I been wise overmuch? Then I said in my heart: This again is to no purpose.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Eccl 6:8 : 8 What have the wise more than the foolish? and what has the poor man by walking wisely before the living?
  • 1 Kgs 3:12 : 12 I have done as you said: I have given you a wise and far-seeing heart, so that there has never been your equal in the past, and never will there be any like you in the future.
  • Eccl 1:2 : 2 All is to no purpose, said the Preacher, all the ways of man are to no purpose.
  • Eccl 1:14 : 14 I have seen all the works which are done under the sun; all is to no purpose, and desire for wind.
  • Eccl 1:16 : 16 I said to my heart, See, I have become great and am increased in wisdom more than any who were before me in Jerusalem--yes, my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.
  • Eccl 1:18-2:1 : 18 Because in much wisdom is much grief, and increase of knowledge is increase of sorrow. 1 I said in my heart, I will give you joy for a test; so take your pleasure--but it was to no purpose.
  • Eccl 2:16 : 16 Of the wise man, as of the foolish man, there is no memory for ever, seeing that those who now are will have gone from memory in the days to come. See how death comes to the wise as to the foolish!

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Eccl 2:9-14
    6 verses
    85%

    9 And I became great; increasing more than all who had been before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom was still with me.

    10 And nothing which was desired by my eyes did I keep from them; I did not keep any joy from my heart, because my heart took pleasure in all my work, and this was my reward.

    11 Then I saw all the works which my hands had made, and everything I had been working to do; and I saw that all was to no purpose and desire for wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

    12 And I went again in search of wisdom and of foolish ways. What may the man do who comes after the king? The thing which he has done before.

    13 Then I saw that wisdom is better than foolish ways--as the light is better than the dark.

    14 The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the foolish man goes walking in the dark; but still I saw that the same event comes to them all.

  • Eccl 2:16-22
    7 verses
    84%

    16 Of the wise man, as of the foolish man, there is no memory for ever, seeing that those who now are will have gone from memory in the days to come. See how death comes to the wise as to the foolish!

    17 So I was hating life, because everything under the sun was evil to me: all is to no purpose and desire for wind.

    18 Hate had I for all my work which I had done, because the man who comes after me will have its fruits.

    19 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.

    20 So my mind was turned to grief for all the trouble I had taken and all my wisdom under the sun.

    21 Because there is a man whose work has been done with wisdom, with knowledge, and with an expert hand; but one who has done nothing for it will have it for his heritage. This again is to no purpose and a great evil.

    22 What does a man get for all his work, and for the weight of care with which he has done his work under the sun?

  • Eccl 1:16-18
    3 verses
    84%

    16 I said to my heart, See, I have become great and am increased in wisdom more than any who were before me in Jerusalem--yes, my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.

    17 And I gave my heart to getting knowledge of wisdom, and of the ways of the foolish. And I saw that this again was desire for wind.

    18 Because in much wisdom is much grief, and increase of knowledge is increase of sorrow.

  • Eccl 2:1-4
    4 verses
    83%

    1 I said in my heart, I will give you joy for a test; so take your pleasure--but it was to no purpose.

    2 Of laughing I said, It is foolish; and of joy--What use is it?

    3 I made a search with my heart to give pleasure to my flesh with wine, still guiding my heart with wisdom, and to go after foolish things, so that I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under the heavens all the days of their life.

    4 I undertook great works, building myself houses and planting vine-gardens.

  • Eccl 1:13-14
    2 verses
    79%

    13 And I gave my heart to searching out in wisdom all things which are done under heaven: it is a hard thing which God has put on the sons of men to do.

    14 I have seen all the works which are done under the sun; all is to no purpose, and desire for wind.

  • Eccl 6:8-9
    2 verses
    79%

    8 What have the wise more than the foolish? and what has the poor man by walking wisely before the living?

    9 What the eyes see is better than the wandering of desire. This is to no purpose and a desire for wind.

  • 25 I gave my mind to knowledge and to searching for wisdom and the reason of things, and to the discovery that sin is foolish, and that to be foolish is to be without one's senses.

  • Eccl 3:18-19
    2 verses
    79%

    18 I said in my heart, It is because of the sons of men, so that God may put them to the test and that they may see themselves as beasts.

    19 Because the fate of the sons of men and the fate of the beasts is the same. As is the death of one so is the death of the other, and all have one spirit. Man is not higher than the beasts; because all is to no purpose.

  • 8 All things are to no purpose, says the Preacher, all is to no purpose.

  • Eccl 1:2-3
    2 verses
    78%

    2 All is to no purpose, said the Preacher, all the ways of man are to no purpose.

    3 What is a man profited by all his work which he does under the sun?

  • 13 This again I have seen under the sun as wisdom and it seemed great to me.

  • 14 There is a thing which is to no purpose done on the earth: that there are good men to whom is given the same punishment as those who are evil, and there are evil men who get the reward of the good. I say that this again is to no purpose.

  • 7 Then I came back, and I saw an example of what is to no purpose under the sun.

  • Eccl 6:11-12
    2 verses
    76%

    11 There are words without number for increasing what is to no purpose, but what is man profited by them?

    12 Who is able to say what is good for man in life all the days of his foolish life which he goes through like a shade? who will say what is to be after him under the sun?

  • 3 And when the foolish man is walking in the way, he has no sense and lets everyone see that he is foolish.

  • Eccl 8:16-17
    2 verses
    75%

    16 When I gave my mind to the knowledge of wisdom and to seeing the business which is done on the earth (and there are those whose eyes see not sleep by day or by night),

    17 Then I saw all the work of God, and that man may not get knowledge of the work which is done under the sun; because, if a man gives hard work to the search he will not get knowledge, and even if the wise man seems to be coming to the end of his search, still he will be without knowledge.

  • 25 Who may take food or have pleasure without him?

  • 3 This is evil in all things which are done under the sun: that there is one fate for all, and the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; while they have life their hearts are foolish, and after that--to the dead.

  • Eccl 8:9-10
    2 verses
    75%

    9 All this have I seen, and have given my heart to all the work which is done under the sun: there is a time when man has power over man for his destruction.

    10 And then I saw evil men put to rest, taken even from the holy place; and they went about and were praised in the town because of what they had done. This again is to no purpose.

  • 4 The hearts of the wise are in the house of weeping; but the hearts of the foolish are in the house of joy.

  • 23 All this I have put to the test by wisdom; I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me.

  • 15 These two have I seen in my life which is to no purpose: a good man coming to his end in his righteousness, and an evil man whose days are long in his evil-doing.

  • 1 All this I took to heart, and my heart saw it all: that the upright and the wise and their works are in the hand of God; and men may not be certain if it will be love or hate; all is to no purpose before them.

  • 22 So I saw that there is nothing better than for a man to have joy in his work--because that is his reward. Who will make him see what will come after him?

  • 4 And I saw that the cause of all the work and of everything which is done well was man's envy of his neighbour. This again is to no purpose and a desire for wind.

  • 16 There was no end of all the people, of all those whose head he was, but they who come later will have no delight in him. This again is to no purpose and desire for wind.

  • 6 Like the cracking of thorns under a pot, so is the laugh of a foolish man; and this again is to no purpose.