Ecclesiastes 6
1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is abundant with man:
There is also another evil, which I have seen under the sun, and that frequent among men:
2 a man to whom God shall give wealth, and substance, and honour, and he wants nothing for his soul of all things that he shall desire, yet God shall not give him power to eat of it, for a stranger shall devour it: this is vanity, and an evil infirmity.
A man to whom God hath given riches, and substance, and honour, and his soul wanteth nothing of all that he desireth: yet God doth not give him power to eat thereof, but a stranger shall eat it up. This is vanity and a great misery.
3 If a man beget a hundred [children], and live many years, yes, however abundant the days of his years shall be, yet [if] his soul shall not be satisfied with good, and also he have no burial; I said, An untimely birth is better than he.
If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, and attain to a great age, and his soul make no use of the goods of his substance, and he be without burial: of this man I pronounce, that the untimely born is better than he.
4 For he came in vanity, and departs in darkness, and his name shall be covered in darkness.
For he came in vain, and goeth to darkness, and his name shall be wholly forgotten.
5 Moreover he has not seen the sun, nor known rest: there is [no more rest] to this one than another.
He hath not seen the sun, nor known the distance of good and evil:
6 Though he has lived to the return of a thousand years, yet he has seen no good: do not all go to one place?
Although he lived two thousand years, and hath not enjoyed good things: do not all make haste to one place?
7 All the labour of a man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite shall not be satisfied.
All the labour of man is for his mouth, but his soul shall not be filled.
8 For [what] advantage has the wise man over the fool, since [even] the poor knows how to walk in the direction of life?
What hath the wise man more than the fool? and what the poor man, but to go thither, where there is life?
9 The sight of the eyes is better than that which wanders in soul: this is also vanity, and waywardness of spirit.
Better it is to see what thou mayst desire, than to desire that which thou canst not know. But this also is vanity, and presumption of spirit.
10 If anything has been, its name has already been called: and it is known what man is; neither can he contend with him who is stronger than he.
He that shall be, his name is already called: and it is known, that he is man, and cannot contend in judgment with him that is stronger than himself.
11 For there are many things which increase vanity.
There are many words that have much vanity in disputing.
12 What advantage has a man? for who knows [what is] good for a man in his life, [during] the number of the life of the days of his vanity? and he has spent them as a shadow; for who shall tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
What needeth a man to seek things that are above him, whereas he knoweth not what is profitable for him in his life, in all the days of his pilgrimage, and the time that passeth like a shadow? Or who can tell him what shall be after him under the sun?
