15 And I said in my heart: 'If the death of both the foolish and myself will be one, how does it benefit me, if I have given myself more thoroughly to the work of wisdom?' And as I was speaking within my own mind, I perceived that this, too, is emptiness.
16 For there will not be a remembrance in perpetuity of the wise, nor of the foolish. And the future times will cover everything together, with oblivion. The learned die in a manner similar to the unlearned.
17 And, because of this, my life wearied me, since I saw that everything under the sun is evil, and everything is empty and an affliction of the spirit.
18 Again, I detested all my efforts, by which I had earnestly labored under the sun, to be taken up by an heir after me,
19 though I know not whether he will be wise or foolish. And yet he will have power over my labors, in which I have toiled and been anxious. And is there anything else so empty?
Share this page