Ecclesiastes 6
1 There is also another evil, which I have seen under the sun, and, indeed, it is frequent among men.
I have seen something [else here] on this earth that troubles people.
2 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.
God enables some people to get a lot of money and possessions and to be honored; they have everything [LIT] that they want. But God [sometimes] does not allow them to continue to enjoy those things. Someone else gets them and enjoys them. That seems senseless and unfair.
3 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.
Someone might have 100 children and live for many years. But if he is not able to enjoy the things that he has acquired, and if he is not buried [properly after he dies], [I say that] a child that is dead when it is born is more fortunate.
4 For he arrives without a purpose and he continues on into darkness, and his name shall be wiped away, into oblivion.
That dead baby’s birth is meaningless; it does not even have a name. It goes directly to the place where there is only darkness.
5 He has not seen the sun, nor recognized the difference between good and evil.
It does not [live to] see the sun or know anything. But it finds more rest than rich people do [who are alive].
6 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?
Even if people could live for 2,000 years, if they do not enjoy the things that God gives to them, [it would have been better for them never to have been born]. [All people who live a long time] certainly [RHQ] all go to the same place— [to the grave].
7 Every labor of man is for his mouth, but his soul will not be filled.
People work hard to [earn enough money to buy] food to eat [MTY], but [often] they never get enough to eat.
8 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?
So it seems that [RHQ] wise people do not receive more lasting benefits than foolish people do. And it seems that [RHQ] poor people do not benefit from knowing how to conduct their lives.
9 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.
It is better to enjoy the things that we already have [MTY] than to constantly want more things; continually wanting more things is [senseless], [like] the wind.
10 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.
All the things that exist [on the earth] have been given names. And everyone knows what people are like, [so] it is useless to argue with someone (OR, with God) who is stronger than we are.
11 There are many words, and many of these, in disputes, hold much emptiness.
The more [that we] talk, the more [often we say things that are] senseless, so it certainly does not [RHQ] benefit us to talk a lot.
12 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?
We live for only a short time; we disappear like [SIM] a shadow disappears [in the sunlight]. No one [RHQ] knows what is best for us while we are alive, and no one [RHQ] knows what will happen to us after we die [EUP].
