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

One Must Learn to Be Content with What One Has

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

yet his appetite is never satisfied.

⁸So 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

⁹Better to be content with what your eyes see

than for your soul to constantly crave more.ⁱ

This also is vanity and chasing wind!

Read in Logos

Footnotes

aOr “his soul”
bLiterally “the good”
cLiterally “and also there is no burial for him”
dHebrew “he”
eHebrew “and”
fLiterally “good”
gLiterally “are not the all going to the same place?”
hLiterally “What is there for the poor knowing how to conduct themselves before the living?”
iLiterally “Sight of the eyes is better than wandering of desire”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

If 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. For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good—do not all go to the one place?

All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. For 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? Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man—even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

Everyone’s toil is for their mouth,

yet their appetite is never satisfied.

What advantage have the wise over fools?

What do the poor gain

by knowing how to conduct themselves before others?

Better what the eye sees

than the roving of the appetite.

This too is meaningless,

a chasing after the wind.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

A man may father a hundred children and live many years. No matter how long he lives, if he is not satisfied by good things and does not even have a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. For he comes in futility and he goes in darkness, and his name is shrouded in darkness. Though a stillborn child does not see the sun and is not conscious, it has more rest than he. And if a person lives a thousand years twice, but does not experience happiness, do not both go to the same place?

All of a person’s labor is for his stomach,

yet the appetite is never satisfied.

What advantage then does the wise person have over the fool? What advantage is there for the poor person who knows how to conduct himself before others? Better what the eyes see than wandering desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

NLTNew Living Translation

A man might have a hundred children and live to be very old. But if he finds no satisfaction in life and doesn’t even get a decent burial, it would have been better for him to be born dead. His birth would have been meaningless, and he would have ended in darkness. He wouldn’t even have had a name, and he would never have seen the sun or known of its existence. Yet he would have had more peace than in growing up to be an unhappy man. He might live a thousand years twice over but still not find contentment. And since he must die like everyone else—well, what’s the use?

All people spend their lives scratching for food, but they never seem to have enough. So are wise people really better off than fools? Do poor people gain anything by being wise and knowing how to act in front of others?

Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

KJV 1900King James Version

If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he. For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness. Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other. Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?

All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living? Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

Public Domain