Ecclesiastes 2:17-23

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.

Futility of Being a Workaholic

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!

Painful Days and Restless Nights

2:22 What does a man acquire from all his labor

and from the anxiety that accompanies his toil on earth?

2:23 For all day long his work produces pain and frustration,

and even at night his mind cannot relax!

This also is futile!