Ecclesiastes 2:16-22

English Standard Version

¹⁶ For of the wise as of the fool there is ^(A)no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. ^(B)How the wise dies just like the fool! ¹⁷ So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for ^(C)all is vanity and a striving after wind.

The Vanity of Toil

¹⁸ I hated ^(D)all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must ^(E)leave it to the man who will come after me, ¹⁹ and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. ²⁰ So I ^(F)turned about and gave my heart up to despair ^(G)over all the toil of my labors under the sun, ²¹ because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. ²² What has a man from ^(H)all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun?