Everything Is Meaningless

1 The words of the Teacher,^[a](A) son of David, king in Jerusalem:^(B)

¹⁸ I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.^{(A) 19} And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish?^(B) Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. ²⁰ So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. ²¹ For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. ²² What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?^{(C) 23} All their days their work is grief and pain;^(D) even at night their minds do not rest.^(E) This too is meaningless.