Ecclesiastes 1:12-18

New International Version

Wisdom Is Meaningless

¹² I, the Teacher,^(A) was king over Israel in Jerusalem.^{(B) 13} I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens.^(C) What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!^{(D) 14} I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.^(E)

¹⁶ I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me;^(G) I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷ Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom,^(H) and also of madness and folly,^(I) but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.