Ecclesiastes 6
1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is hard on men;
There is also another evil, which I have seen under the sun, and, indeed, it is frequent among men.
2 A man to whom God gives money, wealth, and honour so that he has all his desires but God does not give him the power to have joy of it, and a strange man takes it. This is to no purpose and an evil disease.
It is a man to whom God has given wealth, and resources, and honor; and out of all that he desires, nothing is lacking to his life; yet God does not grant him the ability to consume these things, but instead a man who is a stranger will devour them. This is emptiness and a great misfortune.
3 If a man has a hundred children, and his life is long so that the days of his years are great in number, but his soul takes no pleasure in good, and he is not honoured at his death; I say that a birth before its time is better than he.
If a man were to produce one hundred children, and to live for many years, and to attain to an age of many days, and if his soul were to make no use of the goods of his resources, and if he were lacking even a burial: concerning such a man, I declare that a miscarried child is better than he.
4 In wind it came and to the dark it will go, and with the dark will its name be covered.
For he arrives without a purpose and he continues on into darkness, and his name shall be wiped away, into oblivion.
5 Yes, it saw not the sun, and it had no knowledge; it is better with this than with the other.
He has not seen the sun, nor recognized the difference between good and evil.
6 And though he goes on living a thousand years twice over and does not see good, are not the two going to the same place?
Even if he were to live for two thousand years, and yet not thoroughly enjoy what is good, does not each one hurry on to the same place?
7 All the work of man is for his mouth, and still he has a desire for food.
Every labor of man is for his mouth, but his soul will not be filled.
8 What have the wise more than the foolish? and what has the poor man by walking wisely before the living?
What do the wise have which is more than the foolish? And what does the pauper have, except to continue on to that place, where there is life?
9 What the eyes see is better than the wandering of desire. This is to no purpose and a desire for wind.
It is better to see what you desire, than to desire what you cannot know. But this, too, is emptiness and a presumption of spirit.
10 That which is, has been named before, and of what man is there is knowledge. He has no power against one stronger than he.
Whoever shall be in the future, his name has already been called. And it is known that he is a man and that he is not able to contend in judgment against one who is stronger than himself.
11 There are words without number for increasing what is to no purpose, but what is man profited by them?
There are many words, and many of these, in disputes, hold much emptiness.
12 Who is able to say what is good for man in life all the days of his foolish life which he goes through like a shade? who will say what is to be after him under the sun?
Why is it necessary for a man to seek things that are greater than himself, when he does not know what is advantageous for himself in his life, during the number of the days of his sojourn, and while time passes by like a shadow? Or who will be able to tell him what will be in the future after him under the sun?
