Ecclesiastes 6
1 I have observed another evil here on earth, and it has a great impact on humanity.
There is another evil I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily upon mankind:
2 God gives wealth, possessions, and honor to someone. They have everything they want. But God doesn't let them enjoy what they have. Instead somebody else does! This is hard to fathom, and is truly evil.
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.
3 A man could have one hundred children, and grow old, but it wouldn't matter how long his life was if he couldn't enjoy it and at the end receive a decent burial. I would say that a stillborn child would be better off than him.
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.
4 The way a stillborn child comes into the world and then leaves is painfully hard to understand—arriving and departing in darkness—and who he would have been is never known.
For a stillborn child enters in futility and departs in darkness, and his name is shrouded in obscurity.
5 He never saw the light of day or knew what it was like to live. Yet the child finds rest, and not this man.
The child, though neither seeing the sun nor knowing anything, has more rest than that man,
6 Even if this man were to live a thousand years twice over he still wouldn't be happy. Don't we all end up in the same place—the grave?
even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?
7 Everyone works so they can live, but they're never satisfied.
All a man’s labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.
8 So then, what real advantage do wise people have over those who are fools? And do poor people really gain anything in knowing how to behave in front of others?
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?
9 Be happy with what you have instead of running after what you don't! But this is also hard to do, like running after the wind.
Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
10 Everything that exists has already been described. Everyone knows what people are like, and that you can't win an argument with a superior.
Whatever exists was named long ago, and what happens to a man is foreknown; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he.
11 For the more words you use, the harder it is to make sense. So what's the point?
For the more words, the more futility—and how does that profit anyone?
12 Who knows what's best for us and our lives? During our short lives that pass like shadows we have many unanswered questions. And who can tell us what will happen when we're gone?
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?
