Ecclesiastes 2:26
To those who are good, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy. But to the sinner God gives the task of gathering and collecting wealth, only to hand it over to someone who pleases God. This also shows how fleeting life is, and hard to understand—like trying to understand how the wind blows.
Free Bible Version
In The King James Version
In Context
25for who can eat or enjoy life apart from him?
Cross References
Genesis 7:1The Lord told Noah, “Go into the ark with all your family. I have seen how you are a man of integrity, living a moral life among the people of this generation.
Job 27:16Even though they pile up silver like dust, and clothes like heaps of clay,
Job 32:8However, there is a spirit in human beings, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.
Proverbs 3:13Happy are those who find wisdom and gain understanding,
Proverbs 28:8Anyone who gets rich through charging interest and profiteering is only storing it up for someone who is kind to the poor.
Isaiah 3:10Tell those who live right that they will be fine, for they will be happy to receive the reward for what they have done.
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 2:18-26
Sources of Dissatisfaction; The Cheerful Use of Abundance. 17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit. 18 Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. 19 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… Read the whole commentary →