It Is Senseless To Be Wise

¹² I said these things when I lived in Jerusalem as king of Israel. ¹³ With all my wisdom I tried to understand everything that happens here on earth. And God has made this so hard for us humans to do. ¹⁴ I have seen it all, and everything is just as senseless as chasing the wind.^[a]

¹⁸ Suddenly I realized that others would someday get everything I had worked for so hard, then I started hating it all. ¹⁹ Who knows if those people will be sensible or stupid? Either way, they will own everything I have earned by hard work and wisdom. It doesn't make sense.

²⁰ I thought about all my hard work, and I felt depressed. ²¹ When we use our wisdom, knowledge, and skill to get what we own, why do we have to leave it to someone who didn't work for it? This is senseless and wrong. ²² What do we really gain from all of our hard work? ^23 (A) Our bodies ache during the day, and work is torture. Then at night our thoughts are troubled. It just doesn't make sense.