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10 Anything I saw and wanted, I got for myself.
    I did not miss any pleasure I desired.
I was pleased with everything I did.
    And this pleasure was the reward for all my hard work.
11 But then I looked at what I had done.
    I thought about all the hard work.
Suddenly I realized it was just a waste of time, like chasing the wind!
    There is nothing to gain from anything we do here on earth.

Maybe Wisdom Is the Answer

12 Then I began to think again about being wise.
    And I thought also about being foolish and doing crazy things.
But after all, what more can any king do?
    He can only do what some other king has already done.

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10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
    I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
    and this was the reward for all my toil.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
    and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;(A)
    nothing was gained under the sun.(B)

Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless

12 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
    and also madness and folly.(C)
What more can the king’s successor do
    than what has already been done?(D)

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