12. I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13. I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!
14. I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
15. What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.
16. I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.”
17. Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.