NET Bible
"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."
— Ecclesiastes 2:18, NET Bible
“Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.”
“And I hated all my labor wherein I labored under the sun, seeing that I must leave it unto the man that shall be after me. ”
“I hated all my labor in which I labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.”
“Again I hated all my application wherewith I had earnestly laboured under the sun, being like to have an heir after me,”
“Hate had I for all my work which I had done, because the man who comes after me will have its fruits.”
“Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.”
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.
For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; however, he must hand over the fruit of his labor as an inheritance to someone else who did not work for it. This also is futile, and an awful injustice!