Ecclesiastes 2:6-16

⁶I constructed for myself reservoirs to water all these growing trees.

⁷I bought male and female slaves, and their children also belonged to me. I also owned many herds and flocks, more than anyone in Jerusalem before me.

⁸I collected for myself great quantities of silver and gold, paid to me as tribute by kings and provinces. I brought in for myself male and female singers, and enjoyed many concubines—all a man could want!

⁹I became great—greater than anyone in Jerusalem before me. All the while my wisdom stayed with me.

¹⁰I didn't stop myself trying anything I wanted. Whatever I felt like enjoying, I did. I even enjoyed everything I had accomplished, a reward for all my work.

¹¹But when I thought about what I had worked so hard to achieve, everything I'd done, it was so short-lived—as significant as someone trying to catch the wind. There really is no enduring benefit here on earth.

¹²So I started to think about wisdom—and madness and foolishness. For what can anyone who comes after the king do that hasn't already been done?

¹³I recognized that wisdom is better than foolishness just as light is better than darkness.

¹⁴The wise see where they're going, but fools walk in darkness. But I also realized that they all come to the same end.

¹⁵Then I thought to myself, “If I'm going to end up the same as a fool, what's the point of being so wise?” So I thought to myself, “This is also hard to understand!”

¹⁶Nobody remembers the wise or the fool for very long—in the future everything will be forgotten. Whether wise or foolish, they both die.