I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is futility and striving after wind.

I said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”

The Futility of Pleasure and Possessions

I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility.

So I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold, all was futility and striving after wind, and there was no benefit under the sun.

The Evils of Oppression

Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun. And behold, I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and power was on the side of their oppressors, but they had no one to comfort them.

“Behold, I have discovered this,” says the Preacher, “by adding one thing to another to find an explanation,

Behold, I have found only this, that God made people upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”