<t /><p class="poetry">What benefit<n id="1" /> do people<n id="2" /> get from all the effortp> <p class="poetry">which<n id="3" /> they expend<n id="4" /> on earth?<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">So I began to despair<n id="1" /> about all the fruit of<n id="2" /> my labor<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">for which I worked so hard<n id="4" /> on earth.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">Yet when I reflected on everything I had accomplished<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and on all the effort that I had expended to accomplish it,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I concluded:<n id="3" /> &#8220;All these<n id="4" /> achievements and possessions<n id="5" /> are ultimately<n id="6" /> profitless<n id="7" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">like chasing the wind!p> <p class="poetry">There is nothing gained<n id="8" /> from them<n id="9" /> on earth.&#8221;<n id="10" />p>

<p class="poetry">Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool?p> <p class="poetry">Yet<n id="1" /> he will be master over all the fruit of<n id="2" /> my labor<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">for which I worked so wisely<n id="4" /> on earth!<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">This also is futile!p>

<p class="poetry">For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill;p> <p class="poetry">however, he must hand over<n id="1" /> the fruit of his labor<n id="2" /> as an inheritance<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">to someone else who did not work for it.p> <p class="poetry">This also is futile, and an awful injustice!<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">This is another misfortune:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Just as he came, so will he go.p> <p class="poetry">What did he gain from toiling for the wind?p>

<t /><p class="poetry">I have seen personally what is the only beneficial and appropriate course of action for people:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">to eat and drink,<n id="2" /> and find enjoyment in all their<n id="3" /> hard work<n id="4" /> on earth<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">during the few days of their life which God has given them,p> <p class="poetry">for this is their reward.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">then I discerned all that God has done:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">No one really comprehends what happens<n id="2" /> on earth.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Despite all human<n id="4" /> efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp<n id="5" /> it.<n id="6" />p> <p class="poetry">Even if<n id="7" /> a wise person claimed<n id="8" /> that he understood,p> <p class="poetry">he would not really comprehend<n id="9" /> it.<n id="10" />p>