Ecclesiastes 6:1–11

ⁿThere is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: ²a man ^oto whom ^pGod gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he ^qlacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God ^rdoes not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity;¹ it is a grievous evil. ³If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that ^sthe days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s ^tgood things, and he also has no ^uburial, I say that ^va stillborn child is better off than he. ⁴For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. ⁵Moreover, it has not ^wseen the sun or known anything, yet it finds ^xrest rather than he. ⁶Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy² no good—do not all go to the one place?

^7yAll the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.^{3 8}For what advantage has the wise man ^zover the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living? ⁹Better ^ais the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is ^bvanity and a striving after wind.

¹⁰Whatever has come to be has ^calready been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to ^ddispute with one stronger than he. ¹¹The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man?