Ecclesiastes 8:14-17

Christian Standard Bible

¹⁴ There is a futility that is done on the earth: there are righteous people who get what the actions of the wicked deserve,^(A) and there are wicked people who get what the actions of the righteous deserve.^(B) I say that this too is futile. ¹⁵ So I commended enjoyment because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy himself,^(C) for this will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

¹⁶ When I applied my mind to know wisdom^(D) and to observe the activity that is done on the earth (even though one’s eyes do not close in sleep day or night), ¹⁷ I observed all the work of God and concluded that a person is unable to discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though a person labors hard to explore it, he cannot find it;^(E) even if a wise person claims to know it, he is unable to discover it.