2:16 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!
2:17 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.
2:18 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.
2:19 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!
2:20 So I began to despair about all the fruit of my labor
for which I worked so hard on earth.
2:21 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!