Ecclesiastes 6:1–9

Those Who Have Wealth but Do Not Enjoy It Are Pitiful

6 Here is another misfortune that I have seen under the sun, and it is prevalent among humankind. 2 God gives a man wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires; yet God does not enable him to enjoy it—instead someone else ends up enjoying it. This is vanity—indeed, it is a grievous ill!

3 Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years so that the days of his years are many, if his hearta is not satisfied with ⌊his prosperity⌋b and ⌊he does not receive a proper burial⌋,c I deem the stillborn better than him. 4 For he comes into vanity and departs into darkness, and his name is shrouded in darkness. 5 He has neither seen nor known the sun, yet he has more rest than him. 6 Even if a mand lives a thousand years twice, if hee does not enjoy ⌊prosperity⌋,f ⌊both suffer the same fate⌋!g

One Must Learn to Be Content with What One Has

7 All of a man’s toil is for his mouth—

yet his appetite is never satisfied.

8 So do the wise really have an advantage over fools?

⌊Can the poor really gain anything by knowing how to act in front of others⌋?h

9 ⌊Better to be content with what your eyes see

than for your soul to constantly crave more⌋.i

This also is vanity and chasing wind!