A reading from the book of Ecclesiastes.

Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities!  All things are vanity!
So it is that one who has labored wisely, skillfully and successfully must leave what is one’s own to someone who has not toiled for it at all.  This is vanity and great injustice; for what does one gain for all the toil and strain under the sun?  And for all the laborious days, the cares of office, the restless nights?  This, too, is vanity.

The Word of God recorded in the book of Ecclesiastes.