the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Douay-Rheims Bible
Ecclesiastes 2:2
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I said about laughter, “It is madness,” and about pleasure, “What does this accomplish?”
I said of laughter, "It is foolishness;" and of mirth, "What does it accomplish?"
I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?
I said of laughter, "It is mad," and of pleasure, "What use is it?"
I said of laughter, "It is senseless," and of pleasure, "What does this accomplish?"
It is foolish to laugh all the time, and having fun doesn't accomplish anything.
I said of laughter, "It is madness," and of pleasure, "What does it accomplish?"
I said of laughter, "It is foolishness;" and of mirth, "What does it accomplish?"
I saide of laughter, Thou art mad: and of ioy, What is this that thou doest?
I said of laughter, "It is madness," and of gladness, "What does it do?"
I said of laughter, "It is folly," and of pleasure, "What does it accomplish?"
Laughing and having fun is crazy. What good does it do?
Of laughter I said, "This is stupid," and of pleasure, "What's the use of it?"
I said of laughter, Madness! and of mirth, What availeth it?
It is foolish to laugh all the time. Having fun does not do any good.
I said of laughter, What pleasure is there in it? and of mirth, What do you accomplish?
I discovered that laughter is foolish, that pleasure does you no good.
I said of laughter, "It is folly!" and of pleasure, "What does it accomplish?"
I said of laughter, It is madness, and of mirth, What does it do?
in so moch that I sayde vnto laughter: thou art madd, and to myrth: what doest thou?
I said of laughter, It is mad; and of mirth, What doeth it?
Of laughing I said, It is foolish; and of joy--What use is it?
I said of laughter: 'It is mad'; and of mirth: 'What doth it accomplish?'
I saide of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?
Insomuch that I saide vnto the man geuen to laughter, thou art mad: and to mirth, what doest thou?
I said to laughter, Madness: and to mirth, Why doest thou this:
I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?
And leiyyng Y arrettide errour, and Y seide to ioye, What art thou disseyued in veyn?
I said of laughter, It is insane; and of mirth, What does it do?
I said of laughter, [It is] mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?
I said of partying, "It is folly," and of self-indulgent pleasure, "It accomplishes nothing!"
I said of laughter--"Madness!"; and of mirth, "What does it accomplish?"
So I said, "Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?"
I said of laughing, "It is crazy," and of fun, "What use is it?"
I said of laughter, "It is mad," and of pleasure, "What use is it?"
Of laughter, I said, Madness! and, of mirth, What can it do?
I said of laughter, "It is mad," and of pleasure, "What use is it?"
Of laughter I said, `Foolish!' and of mirth, `What [is] this it is doing?'
I said of laughter, "It is madness," and of pleasure, "What does it accomplish?"
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
I said: Solomon is not speaking here of sober enjoyment of the things of the world, but of intemperate pleasure, whose two attendants, laughter and mirth, are introduced by a beautiful prosopopoeia, as two persons, whom he treats with the utmost contempt.
It is: Ecclesiastes 7:2-6, Proverbs 14:13, Isaiah 22:12, Isaiah 22:13, Amos 6:3-6, 1 Peter 4:2-4
Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 25:36 - merry Ecclesiastes 7:6 - as Ecclesiastes 10:19 - feast Matthew 13:45 - seeking Luke 6:25 - laugh James 4:9 - let
Cross-References
And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good. And the evening and morning were the sixth day.
And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning: wherein he placed man whom he had formed.
The name of the one is Phison: that is it which compasseth all the land of Hevilath, where gold groweth.
Six days thou shalt work: the seventh day thou shalt cease, that thy ox and thy ass may rest: and the son of thy handmaid and the stranger may be refreshed.
Between me and the children of Israel, and a perpetual sign. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and in the seventh he ceased from work.
The seventh is the day of the sabbath, that is, the rest of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not do any work therein, thou nor thy son nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant nor thy maidservant, nor thy ox, nor thy ass, nor any of thy beasts, nor the stranger that is within thy gates: that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest, even as thyself.
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy own will in my holy day, and call the sabbath delightful, and the holy of the Lord glorious, and glorify him, while thou dost not thy own ways, and thy own will is not found, to speak a word:
But Jesus answered them: My Father worketh until now; and I work.
For in a certain place he spoke of the seventh day thus: And God rested the seventh day from all his works.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
I said of laughter, [it is] mad,.... The risible faculty in man is given him for some usefulness; and when used in a moderate way, and kept within due bounds, is of service to him, and conduces to the health of his body, and the pleasure of his mind; but when used on every trivial occasion, and at every foolish thing that is said or done, and indulged to excess, it is mere madness, and makes a man look more like a madman and a fool than a wise man; it lasts but for a while, and the end of it is heaviness, Ecclesiastes 7:6. Or, "I said to laughter, [thou art] mad" x; and therefore will have nothing to do with thee in the excessive and criminal way, but shun thee, as one would do a mad man: this therefore is not to be reckoned into the pleasure he bid his soul go to and enjoy;
and of mirth, what doth it? what good does do? of what profit and advantage is it to man? If the question is concerning innocent mirth, the answer may be given out of Proverbs 15:13; but if of carnal sinful mirth, there is no good arises from that to the body or mind; or any kind of happiness to be enjoyed that way, and therefore no trial is to be made of it. What the wise man proposed to make trial of, and did, follows in the next verses.
x ×ש××ק ×××¨×ª× ××××× "risui dixi, insanis", Mercerus, Drusius, Amama; "vel insanus es", Piscator, Schmidt, Rambachius.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Ecclesiastes 2:2. I said of laughter, It is mad — Literally "To laughter I said, O mad one! and to mirth, What is this one doing?"
Solomon does not speak here of a sober enjoyment of the things of this world, but of intemperate pleasure, whose two attendants, laughter and mirth are introduced by a beautiful prosopopoeia as two persons; and the contemptuous manner wherewith he treats them has something remarkably striking. He tells the former to her face that she is mad; but as to the latter, he thinks her so much beneath his notice, that he only points at her, and instantly turns his back.
