6 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, a common burden that people bear:[a] 2 God gives somebody wealth, riches, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of everything that he craves, but God does not give him the opportunity to eat it. Instead, a stranger eats it. This is vapor, and a sickening evil.
3 A man may father a hundred children and live many years, but if his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper burial, no matter how many days he lives, I say, “A stillborn baby is better off than he is.” 4 Why? Because that baby comes like a vapor and leaves in darkness, and its name gets covered in darkness. 5 The baby does not see the sun or know it,[b] but it enjoys more peaceful rest than that man does, 6 even if that man would live a thousand years two times without enjoying good things. They all go to the same place, don’t they?
7 All of a man’s hard work is to feed his mouth, but his appetite[c] never feels satisfied.
8 So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? What advantage does a poor man gain, who knows how to keep walking among the living?[d] 9 Better to have eyes that look at what is actually there than desires that roam. This too is vapor and chasing the wind.
10 Whatever exists already has its name,[e] and it is already known what man is. He is not able to win in court against one who is stronger than he is.[f]
11 Yes, the more words,[g] the more vapor. What advantage does a man have?
12 For who knows what is good for a man in life, in the few days of his life, that vanishes like vapor, that passes like a shadow?[h] Who will tell the man what will be after him, under the sun?
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 6:1 Or a burden which weighs heavily on people
- Ecclesiastes 6:5 Or know anything
- Ecclesiastes 6:7 Or his soul
- Ecclesiastes 6:8 Or how to survive among the living
- Ecclesiastes 6:10 Or already has been determined
- Ecclesiastes 6:10 Or the One who is stronger than he is
- Ecclesiastes 6:11 Or the more things
- Ecclesiastes 6:12 Or which God makes like a shadow