What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?

History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.

I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.

So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.

I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees.

So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me.

Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors.

But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.

Both will die. So I said to myself, “Since I will end up the same as the fool, what’s the value of all my wisdom? This is all so meaningless!”

The Futility of Work

I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave to others everything I have earned.

So I gave up in despair, questioning the value of all my hard work in this world.

So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety?

Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night their minds cannot rest. It is all meaningless.

What do people really get for all their hard work?

I have seen the burden God has placed on us all.

I said to myself, “In due season God will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all their deeds.”

Again, I observed all the oppression that takes place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless.

But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born. For they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun.

This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing.

The Futility of Political Power

It is better to be a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king who refuses all advice.

Endless crowds stand around him, but then another generation grows up and rejects him, too. So it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.

Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few.

When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him.

We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us.

And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind.