Ecclesiastes 6
1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is abundant with man:
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is hard on men;
2 a man to whom God shall give wealth, and substance, and honor, 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 gives money, wealth, and honour so that he has all his desires but God does not give him the power to have joy of it, and a strange man takes it. This is to no purpose and an evil disease.
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 has a hundred children, and his life is long so that the days of his years are great in number, but his soul takes no pleasure in good, and he is not honoured at his death; I say that a birth before its time is better than he.
4 For he came in vanity, and departs in darkness, and his name shall be covered in darkness.
In wind it came and to the dark it will go, and with the dark will its name be covered.
5 Moreover he has not seen the sun, nor known rest: there is [no more rest] to this one than another.
Yes, it saw not the sun, and it had no knowledge; it is better with this than with the other.
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?
And though he goes on living a thousand years twice over and does not see good, are not the two going to the same place?
7 All the labor of a man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite shall not be satisfied.
All the work of man is for his mouth, and still he has a desire for food.
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 have the wise more than the foolish? and what has the poor man by walking wisely before the living?
9 The sight of the eyes is better than that which wanders in soul: this is also vanity, and waywardness of spirit.
What the eyes see is better than the wandering of desire. This is to no purpose and a desire for wind.
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.
That which is, has been named before, and of what man is there is knowledge. He has no power against one stronger than he.
11 For there are many things which increase vanity.
There are words without number for increasing what is to no purpose, but what is man profited by them?
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?
Who is able to say what is good for man in life all the days of his foolish life which he goes through like a shade? who will say what is to be after him under the sun?
