12. I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13. And I applied myself by heart and mind to seek and search out by [human] wisdom all human activity under heaven. It is a miserable business which God has given to the sons of man with which to busy themselves.
14. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity, a striving after the wind and a feeding on wind.
15. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is defective and lacking cannot be counted.
16. I entered into counsel with my own mind, saying, Behold, I have acquired great [human] wisdom, yes, more than all who have been over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has had great experience of [moral] wisdom and [scientific] knowledge.
17. And I gave my mind to know [practical] wisdom and to discern [the character of] madness and folly [in which men seem to find satisfaction]; I perceived that this also is a searching after wind and a feeding on it. [I Thess. 5:21.]
18. For in much [human] wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.