New International Version (NIV)
16For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;
the days have already come when both have been forgotten.
Like the fool, the wise too must die!
Ecclesiastes 2:16
Ecclesiastes 2:16 in 10 English translations. Each links through to the full chapter for context.
New American Standard Bible - NASB (NASB2020)
16For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, along with the fool, since in the coming days everything will soon be forgotten. And how the wise and the fool alike die!
Amplified Bible (AMP)
16For there is no [more] lasting remembrance of the wise man than of the fool, since in the days to come all will be long forgotten. And how does the wise man die? Even as the fool!
Berean Standard Bible (BSB)
16For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool!
American Standard Version (ASV)
16For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no remembrance for ever; seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. And how doth the wise man die even as the fool!
Geneva Bible (GNV)
16For there shalbe no remembrance of the wise, nor of the foole for euer: for that that now is, in the dayes to come shall all be forgotten. And howe dyeth the wise man, as doeth the foole?
World English Bible, American English Edition, without Strong's Numbers (WEBUS)
16For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no memory forever, since in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. Indeed, the wise man must die just like the fool!
New International Reader’s Version (NIrV)
16Like a foolish person, a wise person won’t be remembered very long.
The days have already come when both of them have been forgotten.
Like a person who is foolish,
a wise person must die too!
EasyEnglish Bible 2024 (EASY)
16People forget about wise people
as quickly as they forget about fools.
One day, nobody will remember any of them.
It is true! As fools all have to die,
wise people will also die.
Literal Standard Version (LSV)
16That there is no remembrance to the wise—with the fool—for all time, for that which [is] already, [in] the days that are coming is all forgotten, and how dies the wise? With the fool!