Ecclesiastes 6
1 Here was an evil, I had seen under the sun, —and it is, common, among men:
I have seen something [else here] on this earth that troubles people.
2 A man to whom God giveth riches and gains and honour, so that nothing doth he lack for his soul—of all that he craveth, and yet God doth not give him power to eat thereof, but, a man unknown, eateth it, —this, was vanity, and, an incurable evil, it was.
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 Though a man should beget a hundred children, and live, many years, so that many should be the days of his years but, his own soul, should not be satisfied with the good, and he should not even have, a burial, I said, Better than he, is an untimely birth!
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, in vain, it came in, and, in darkness, it departeth, —and, with darkness, its name, is covered:
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 even the sun, it never saw, nor aught did it know, —more quietness, hath this than the other.
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 though one hath lived a thousand years twice told, yet, good, hath he not seen, —is it not, unto one place, that, all, are going?
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 All the toil of man, is for his mouth, —though, even the desire, is not satisfied!
People work hard to [earn enough money to buy] food to eat [MTY], but [often] they never get enough to eat.
8 For what profit hath the wise man, over the dullard? What can, the poor man, know—so as to walk before the living?
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 Better what the eyes behold, than the wandering of desire, —even this, was vanity, and a feeding on wind.
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 Whatsoever one may be, long ago, was he called by his name, and it is known that it is—Son of Earth, —he cannot, therefore, contend with one stronger than he.
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 Seeing there are things in abundance which make vanity abound, what profit hath man?
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 For who knoweth what is good for a man throughout his life, for the number of the days of his life of vanity, seeing he will make them, like a shadow, —for who can tell a man, what shall be 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].
