Ecclesiastes 6:1–11

The Futility of Life

¹There is an ^aevil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent ¹among men—

²a man to whom God has ^agiven riches and wealth and honor so that his soul ^blacks nothing of all that he desires; yet God has not empowered him to eat from them, for a foreigner ¹enjoys them. This is ²vanity and a severe affliction.

³If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many ¹they be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper ^aburial, then I say, “Better ^bthe miscarriage than he,

⁴for it comes in futility and goes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity.

⁵“It never sees the sun and it never knows anything; ¹it is better off than he.

⁶“Even if the other man lives a thousand years twice and does not ¹enjoy good things—^ado not all go to one place?”

^7aAll a man’s labor is for his mouth and yet the ¹appetite is not ²satisfied.

⁸For ^awhat advantage does the wise man have over the fool? What advantage does the poor man have, knowing how to walk before the living?

⁹What the eyes ^asee is better than what the soul ¹desires. This too is ^bfutility and a striving after wind.

¹⁰Whatever ^aexists has already been named, and it is known what man is; for he ^bcannot dispute with him who is stronger than he is.

¹¹For there are many words which increase futility. What then is the advantage to a man?