This paper argues that Ecc 2:24–26 forms the critical turning point from Qohelet’s increasing despair in 1:12–2:23 to a more joyful approach to life that begins to develop in chapter 3. I argue that this function of 2:24–26 has been obscured by English translations and by the apparatus of the BHS and the BHQ in their attempt to align these verses with 3:22. Rather than understanding אֵֽין־ט֤וֹב בָּאָדָם֙ שֶׁיֹּאכַ֣ל וְשָׁתָ֔ה וְהֶרְאָ֧ה אֶת־נַפְשׁ֛וֹ ט֖וֹב בַּעֲמָל֑וֹ in Ecc 2:24 as equivalent to אֵ֥ין טוֹב֙ מֵאֲשֶׁ֨ר יִשְׂמַ֤ח הָאָדָם֙ בְּֽמַעֲשָׂ֔יו in 3:22, I argue that in the former verse Qohelet declares that ‘there is no good in man’. I also argue that Mishnaic Hebrew sheds light on the key terms יָחוּשׁ and חוּץ מִמֶּנִּי in 2:25, so that these verses are best understood as emphasising the sovereignty of God in human affairs. Thus 2:24–26 Qohelet’s failure to failure to find profit from his toil leads him to conclude that there is no good in man but there is the possibility of joy as the gift of God. I then show how Qohelet’s shift in focus from himself to God in 3:9–22 resolves not only the key problems he encountered in 1:12–2:23, but the question of how someone can be good before God (2:26) when there is no good in man (2:24).