Ecclesiastes 2:15-23

¹⁵Then said I in my heart, The same that befalleth the fool will also befall even me: and why have I then been wiser? Then spoke I in my heart, that this is also vanity.

¹⁶For there is no recollection of the wise any more than of the fool for ever: seeing that which hath long ago been will, in the days that are coming, all be forgotten. And how doth the wise die equally with the fool!

¹⁷Therefore I hated life; because I felt displeased with the work that is wrought under the sun; for all is vanity and a torture of the spirit.

¹⁸Yea, I hated also all my toil with which I had toiled under the sun; because I should have to leave it unto the man that will be after me.

¹⁹And who knoweth, whether he will be a wise man or a fool? yet will he have full sway over all my toil wherein I have toiled, and wherein I have shown myself wise under the sun. Also this is vanity.

²⁰Therefore I turned about to cause my heart to give up thinking of all the toil wherewith I had toiled under the sun.

²¹For there is many a man whose toil is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and with energy; yet to a man that hath not toiled therefore must he give it as his portion. Also this is vanity and a great evil.

²²For what doth a man obtain of all his toil, and of the torture of his heart, wherewith he toileth under the sun?

²³For all his days are full of pains, and vexation is mingled with his employment: yea, even in the night his heart taketh not rest. Also this is vanity.