16-17 and those who have tried have vanished: the rulers of the nations, those who hunted wild animals and birds for sport, those who accumulated vast fortunes of silver and gold, which everyone trusts and will do anything to get,
18 and those who worried and schemed to make money, but who left no trace of their work behind.
19 They have all disappeared and gone down to the world of the dead. Others have come along to take their place.
20 A later generation was born and lived in the land, but they too did not discover the way to knowledge. They did not find the path to Wisdom or ever reach her.
21 Their children also failed.
22 Wisdom was not found by the Canaanites. It has not been discovered by the Edomites
23 although they search after knowledge. The way to Wisdom has not been found by the merchants of Merran and Tema or by those who relate fables or by any others who seek understanding.