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) 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.(F) 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish?(G) 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.

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