Ecclesiastes 2:21-26 ▼

21 For there is a man whose labor [is] in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity, and to a man who has not labored therein he gives it—his portion! Even this [is] vanity and a great evil.

22 For what has been to a man by all his labor, and by the thought of his heart that he labored at under the sun?

23 For all his days are sorrows, and his travail sadness; even at night his heart has not lain down; this [is] also vanity.

24 There is nothing good in a man who eats, and has drunk, and has shown his soul good in his labor. This also I have seen that it [is] from the hand of God.

25 For who eats and who hurries out more than I?

26 For to a man who [is] good before Him, He has given wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; and to a sinner He has given travail, to gather and to heap up, to give to the good before God. Even this [is] vanity and distress of spirit.