Ecclesiastes 6
1 There is another evil I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily upon mankind:
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy upon men:
2 God gives a man riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires; but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a grievous affliction.
A man to whom God gives riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but an alien eats it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
3 A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
If a man begets a hundred sons, and lives many years so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not filled with good, and moreover he has no burial, I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.
4 For a stillborn child enters in futility and departs in darkness, and his name is shrouded in obscurity.
For it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and the name of it is covered with darkness.
5 The child, though neither seeing the sun nor knowing anything, has more rest than that man,
Moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it, this one has rest rather than the other.
6 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?
Yea, though he lives a thousand years twice told, and yet enjoys no good, do not all go to one place?
7 All a man’s labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.
All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
8 What advantage, then, has the wise man over the fool? What gain comes to the poor man who knows how to conduct himself before others?
For what advantage has the wise man more than the fool? What has the poor man, who knows how to walk before the living?
9 Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
10 Whatever exists was named long ago, and what happens to a man is foreknown; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he.
Whatever has been, the name of it was given long ago, and it is know what man is. Neither can he contend with him who is mightier than he.
11 For the more words, the more futility—and how does that profit anyone?
Since there are many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?
12 For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?
For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spends as a shadow? For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
