Ecclesiastes 6

1 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it [is] great on man:

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 wealth, and riches, and honor, and there is no lack to his soul of all that he desires, and God does not give him power to eat of it, but a stranger eats it; this [is] vanity, and it [is] 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 begets one hundred, and lives many years, and is great, because they are the days of his years, and his soul is not satisfied from the goodness, and also he has not had a grave, I have said, “Better than he [is] the untimely birth.”

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 For in vanity he came in, and in darkness he goes, and in darkness his name is covered,

For he arrives without a purpose and he continues on into darkness, and his name shall be wiped away, into oblivion.

5 even the sun he has not seen nor known, more rest has this than that.

He has not seen the sun, nor recognized the difference between good and evil.

6 And though he had lived one thousand years twice over, yet he has not seen good; does not everyone go 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 labor of man [is] for his mouth, And yet the soul is not filled.

Every labor of man is for his mouth, but his soul will not be filled.

8 For what advantage [is] to the wise above the fool? What to the poor who knows to walk 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 Better [is] the sight of the eyes than the going of the soul. This [is] also vanity and distress of spirit.

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 What [is] that which has been? Already is its name called, and it is known that it [is] man, And he is not able to contend with him who is 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 For there are many things multiplying vanity; What advantage [is] to man?

There are many words, and many of these, in disputes, hold much emptiness.

12 For who knows what [is] good for a man in life, the number of the days of the life of his vanity, and he makes them as a shadow? For who declares to man what is 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?