Ecclesiastes 6

6There ^ais an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: ²A man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, ^bso that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires; ^cyet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity, and it is an evil ¹affliction.

³If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or ^dindeed he has no burial, I say that ^ea ²stillborn child is better than he—⁴for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness. ⁵Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man, ⁶even if he lives a thousand years twice—but has not seen goodness. Do not all go to one ^fplace?

^7gAll the labor of man is for his mouth,

And yet the soul is not satisfied.

⁸For what more has the wise man than the fool?

What does the poor man have,

Who knows how to walk before the living?

⁹Better is ³the ^hsight of the eyes than the wandering of ⁴desire.

This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

¹⁰Whatever one is, he has been named ⁱalready,

For it is known that he is man;

^jAnd he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he.

¹¹Since there are many things that increase vanity,

How is man the better?

¹²For who knows what is good for man in life, ⁵all the days of his ⁶vain life which he passes like ^ka shadow? ^lWho can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun?