Ecclesiastes 2:26

WEB

²⁶For 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.

KJV

²⁶For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

BSB

²⁶To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

FBV

²⁶To 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.

Extra References

Proverbs 13:22

²²A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored for the righteous.

Job 27:16-17

¹⁶Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare clothing as the clay; ¹⁷he may prepare it, but the just will put it on, and the innocent will divide the silver.

Proverbs 28:8

⁸He who increases his wealth by excessive interest gathers it for one who has pity on the poor.

Isaiah 3:10-11

¹⁰Tell the righteous that it will be well with them, for they will eat the fruit of their deeds. ¹¹Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them, for the deeds of their hands will be paid back to them.

John 16:24

²⁴Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.

Colossians 3:16-17

¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.

¹⁷Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

2 Chronicles 31:20-21

²⁰Hezekiah did so throughout all Judah; and he did that which was good, right, and faithful before the LORD his God. ²¹In every work that he began in the service of God’s house, in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart and prospered.

Proverbs 3:13-18

¹³Happy is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gets understanding. ¹⁴For her good profit is better than getting silver, and her return is better than fine gold. ¹⁵She is more precious than rubies. None of the things you can desire are to be compared to her. ¹⁶Length of days is in her right hand. In her left hand are riches and honor. ¹⁷Her ways are ways of pleasantness. All her paths are peace. ¹⁸She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her. Happy is everyone who retains her.

Colossians 1:9-12

⁹For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy, ¹²giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light,

Genesis 7:1

¹The LORD said to Noah, “Come with all of your household into the ship, for I have seen your righteousness before me in this generation.