Ecclesiastes 4:16
There is no limit to all the people who were before them. Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
What it says
Though crowds once gathered around him, later generations do not rejoice in the successor, so this too is futile.
What it is doing
This verse closes the chapter by exposing the short life of public acclaim.
In context
13Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take a warning. 14For the youth has come from the prison to the kingship, though he was born poor in his own kingdom. 15I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed this second one, the youth who succeeded the king. 16There is no limit to all the people who were before them. Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.