Ecclesiastes 2:12-17 (New International Reader's Version)

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Wisdom and Foolish Pleasure Don't Have Any Meaning

12 I decided to think about wisdom. I also thought about foolish pleasure. What more can a new king do? Can he do anything more than others have already done? 13 I saw that wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness. 14 The eyes of a wise man see things clearly. A person who is foolish lives in darkness. But I finally realized that death catches up with both of them. 15 Then I thought, "What happens to a foolish person will catch up with me too. So what do I gain by being wise?" I said to myself, "That doesn't have any meaning either." 16 Like a foolish person, a wise man won't be remembered very long. In days to come, both of them will be forgotten. Like a person who is foolish, a wise man must die too!

Work Doesn't Have Any Meaning

17 So I hated life. That's because the work that is done on this earth made me sad. None of it has any meaning. It's like chasing the wind.

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