15 Then I thought in mine heart, It befalleth unto me, as it befalleth to the fool. Why therefore do I then labor to be more wise? And I said in mine heart, that this also is vanity.

16 For there shall be no remembrance of the wise, nor of the fool [a]forever: for that that now is, in the days to come, shall all be forgotten. And [b]how dieth the wise man, as doth the fool?

17 Therefore I hated life: for the work that is wrought under the Sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity, and vexation of the spirit.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 2:16 Meaning, in this world.
  2. Ecclesiastes 2:16 He wondereth that men forget a wise man, being dead, as soon as they do a fool.

15 Then I said to myself,

“The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
    What then do I gain by being wise?”(A)
I said to myself,
    “This too is meaningless.”
16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;(B)
    the days have already come when both have been forgotten.(C)
Like the fool, the wise too must die!(D)

Toil Is Meaningless

17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.(E)

Read full chapter