1I’ve seen another evil thing on this earth. And it’s a heavy load on human beings.2God gives some people wealth, possessions and honour. They have everything their hearts desire. But God doesn’t let them enjoy those things. Instead, strangers enjoy them. This doesn’t have any meaning. It’s a very evil thing.3A man might have a hundred children. He might live a long time. But suppose he can’t enjoy his wealth. And suppose he isn’t buried in the proper way. Then it doesn’t matter how long he lives. I’m telling you that a baby that is born dead is better off than that man is.4That kind of birth doesn’t have any meaning. The baby dies in darkness and leaves this world. And in darkness it is forgotten.5It didn’t even see the sun. It didn’t know anything at all. But it has more rest than that man does.6And that’s true even if he lives for 2,000 years but doesn’t get to enjoy his wealth. All people die and go to the grave, don’t they?7People eat up everything they work to get. But they are never satisfied.8What advantage do wise people have over those who are foolish? What do poor people gain by knowing how to act towards others?9Being satisfied with what you have is better than always wanting more. That doesn’t have any meaning either. It’s like chasing the wind.10God has already planned what now exists. He has already decided what a human being is. No one can argue with someone who is stronger.11The more words people use, the less meaning there is. And that doesn’t help anyone.12Who knows what’s good for a person? They live for only a few meaningless days. They pass through life like a shadow. Who can tell them what will happen on earth after they are gone?
Ecclesiastes 6
English Standard Version
1There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: (Ec 5:13)2a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity;[1] it is a grievous evil. (1Ki 3:13; Job 21:7; Ps 17:14; Ps 73:7; Ec 5:19; Lu 12:20)3If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. (Ge 47:8; 2Ki 9:35; Job 3:16; Ec 4:3; Ec 6:6; Isa 14:20; Jer 8:2; Jer 22:19)4For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered.5Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. (Ec 4:6; Ec 7:11; Ec 11:7)6Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy[2] no good—do not all go to the one place?7All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.[3] (Pr 16:26)8For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living? (Ec 2:15)9Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind. (Ec 1:14; Ec 11:9)10Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he. (Job 9:32; Ec 1:10; Ec 3:15; Isa 45:9; 1Co 10:22)11The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man?12For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain[4] life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun? (Job 14:2; Ec 2:18; Ec 3:22; Ec 7:15; Ec 8:13; Ec 9:9)