NET Bible
"So I loathed life because what happens on earth seems awful to me; for all the benefits of wisdom are futile– like chasing the wind."
— Ecclesiastes 2:17, NET Bible
“Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”
“So I hated life, because the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind. ”
“So I hated life, because the work that is worked under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.”
“And therefore I was weary of my life, when I saw that all things under the sun are evil, and all vanity and vexation of spirit.”
“So I was hating life, because everything under the sun was evil to me: all is to no purpose and desire for wind.”
“Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”
The wise man can see where he is going, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also realized that the same fate happens to them both.
So I thought to myself,“The fate of the fool will happen even to me! Then what did I gain by becoming so excessively wise?” So I lamented to myself,“The benefits of wisdom are ultimately meaningless!”
For the wise man, like the fool, will not be remembered for very long, because in the days to come, both will already have been forgotten. Alas, the wise man dies– just like the fool!
So I loathed life because what happens on earth seems awful to me; for all the benefits of wisdom are futile– like chasing the wind.
Futility of Being a Workaholic So I loathed all the fruit of my effort, for which I worked so hard on earth, because I must leave it behind in the hands of my successor.
Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master over all the fruit of my labor for which I worked so wisely on earth! This also is futile!
So I began to despair about all the fruit of my labor for which I worked so hard on earth.