9 So I was far wealthier than all my predecessors in Jerusalem,yet I maintained my objectivity:
10 I did not restrain myself from getting whatever I wanted;I did not deny myself anything that would bring me pleasure.So all my accomplishments gave me joy; this was my reward for all my effort.
11 Yet when I reflected on everything I had accomplishedand on all the effort that I had expended to accomplish it,I concluded: “All these achievements and possessions are ultimately profitless – like chasing the wind!There is nothing gained from them on earth.”
12 Next, I decided to consider wisdom, as well as foolish behavior and ideas.For what more can the king’s successor do than what the king has already done?
13 I realized that wisdom is preferable to folly,just as light is preferable to darkness:
14 The wise man can see where he is going, but the fool walks in darkness.Yet I also realized that the same fate happens to them both.
15 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!”