Ecclesiastes 1:18
Living Bible
16-18 I said to myself, “Look, I am better educated than any of the kings before me in Jerusalem. I have greater wisdom and knowledge.” So I worked hard to be wise instead of foolish—but now I realize that even this was like chasing the wind. For the more my wisdom, the more my grief; to increase knowledge only increases distress.
Hi, I think the passage was written with salvation in mind, anything from imperfect people can be in the end very frustrating. One point unknown to people is that salvation opens wisdom naturally so that you got smarter in a different way than before salvation was given. So, I added more passages that expresses the desire for one to obtain salvation and gain true wisdom that comes from God it is very different.
Ecclesiastes 2:14-16
Easy-to-Read Version
14 Wise people use their minds like eyes to see where they are going. But for fools, it is as if they are walking in the dark.
I also saw that fools and wise people both end the same way. 15 I thought to myself, “The same thing that happens to a fool will also happen to me. So why have I tried so hard to become wise?” I said to myself, “Being wise is also useless.” 16 Whether people are wise or foolish, they will still die, and no one will remember either one of them forever. In the future, people will forget everything both of them did. So the two are really the same.
Ecclesiastes 7:16-18
Living Bible
15-17 In this silly life I have seen everything, including the fact that some of the good die young and some of the wicked live on and on. So don’t be too good or too wise! Why destroy yourself? On the other hand, don’t be too wicked either—don’t be a fool! Why should you die before your time?
18 Tackle every task that comes along, and if you fear God, you can expect his blessing.
Ecclesiastes 7:16-18
Easy-to-Read Version
16-17 So why ruin your life? Don’t be too good or too bad, and don’t be too wise or too foolish. Why should you die before your time?
18 Try to be a little of this and a little of that. Even God’s followers will do some good things and some bad things.
1 Corinthians 3:18-20
Living Bible
18 Stop fooling yourselves. If you count yourself above average in intelligence, as judged by this world’s standards, you had better put this all aside and be a fool rather than let it hold you back from the true wisdom from above. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As it says in the book of Job, God uses man’s own brilliance to trap him; he stumbles over his own “wisdom” and falls. 20 And again, in the book of Psalms, we are told that the Lord knows full well how the human mind reasons and how foolish and futile it is.
Ecclesiastes 12:11-12
Easy-to-Read Version
11 Words from the wise are like sharp goads. When these sayings are written down and saved, they can be used to guide people, just as a shepherd uses a sharp stick to make his sheep go the right way. 12 So, son, study these sayings, but be careful about other teachings. People are always writing books, and too much study will make you very tired.
