Wisdom Is Meaningless

¹² I, the Teacher,^(A) was king over Israel in Jerusalem.^(B)

¹³ I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens.^(A) What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!^(B)

¹⁶ I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me;^(A) I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.”

¹⁷ Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom,^(A) and also of madness and folly,^(B) but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.