And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!

I said to myself, “Behold, I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”

So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.

To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take a warning.

Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun.

All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me.

I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.

A wise man’s heart inclines to the right, but the heart of a fool to the left.

For this is what the LORD has spoken to me with a strong hand, instructing me not to walk in the way of this people:

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD.

For his God instructs and teaches him properly.