New Century Version

Ecclesiastes 2:15-22 New Century Version (NCV)

15. I thought to myself,“What happens to a fool will happen to me, too,so what is the reward for being wise?”I said to myself,“Being wise is also useless.”

16. The wise person and the foolwill both die,and no one will remember either one for long.In the future, both will be forgotten.

17. So I hated life. It made me sad to think that everything here on earth is useless, like chasing the wind.

18. I hated all the things I had worked for here on earth, because I must leave them to someone who will live after me.

19. Someone else will control everything for which I worked so hard here on earth, and I don’t know if he will be wise or foolish. This is also useless.

20. So I became sad about all the hard work I had done here on earth.

21. People can work hard using all their wisdom, knowledge, and skill, but they will die, and other people will get the things for which they worked. They did not do the work, but they will get everything. This is also unfair and useless.

22. What do people get for all their work and struggling here on earth?