Ecclesiastes 5:12

5:12 The sleep of the laborer is pleasant – whether he eats little or much –

but the wealth of the rich will not allow him to sleep.

Ecclesiastes 5:16

5:16 This is another misfortune: ¹ 

Just as he came, so will he go.

What did he gain from toiling for the wind?

Ecclesiastes 10:14

10:14 yet a fool keeps on babbling. ² 

No one knows what will happen;

who can tell him what will happen in the future? ³ 

[5:16]  ¹ tn See the note on the phrase “depressing misfortune” in v. 13.

[10:14]  ¹ tn Heb “and the fool multiplies words.” This line is best taken as the third line of a tricola encompassing 10:13-14a (NASB, NRSV, NJPS, Moffatt) rather than the first line of a tricola encompassing 10:14 (KJV, NEB, RSV, NAB, ASV, NIV). Several versions capture the sense of this line well: “a fool prates on and on” (Moffatt) and “Yet the fool talks and talks!” (NJPS).

[10:14]  ² tn Heb “after him”; or “after he [dies].”