Ecclesiastes 6:3–9

3 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. 4 It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. 5 Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man—6 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

7 Everyone’s toil is for their mouth,

yet their appetite is never satisfied.

8 What advantage have the wise over fools?

What do the poor gain

by knowing how to conduct themselves before others?

9 Better what the eye sees

than the roving of the appetite.

This too is meaningless,

a chasing after the wind.

3 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. 4 For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. 5 Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. 6 Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good—do not all go to the one place?

7 All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. 8 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? 9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

3 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. 4 For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness. 5 Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other. 6 Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?

7 All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. 8 For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living? 9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

3 If 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 indeed he has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better than he—4 for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness. 5 Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man, 6 even if he lives a thousand years twice—but has not seen goodness. Do not all go to one place?

7 All the labor of man is for his mouth,

And yet the soul is not satisfied.

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

What does the poor man have,

Who knows how to walk before the living?

9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire.

This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

3 A man might have a hundred children and live a long time, but what good is it if he can’t enjoy the good God gives him or have a proper burial? I say a baby born dead is better off than he is. 4 A baby born dead is useless. It returns to darkness without even a name. 5 That baby never saw the sun and never knew anything, but it finds more rest than that man. 6 Even if he lives two thousand years, he doesn’t enjoy the good God gives him. Everyone is going to the same place.

7 People work just to feed themselves,

but they never seem to get enough to eat.

8 In this way a wise person

is no better off than a fool.

Then, too, it does a poor person little good

to know how to get along in life.

9 It is better to see what you have

than to want more.

Wanting more is useless—

like chasing the wind.

3 If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul be not filled with good, and moreover he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he: 4 for it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and the name thereof is covered with darkness; 5 moreover it hath not seen the sun nor known it; this hath rest rather than the other: 6 yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, and yet enjoy no good, do not all go to one place?

7 All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. 8 For what advantage hath the wise more than the fool? or what hath the poor man, that knoweth how to walk before the living? 9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

3 If a man beget a hundred sons, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, but his soul be not filled with good, and also he have no burial, I say an untimely birth is better than he. 4 For it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness; 5 moreover it hath not seen nor known the sun: this hath rest rather than the other. 6 Yea, though he live twice a thousand years, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?

7 All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. 8 For what advantage hath the wise above the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living? 9 Better is the seeing of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this also is vanity and pursuit of the wind.

3 Suppose a rich person wasn’t satisfied with good things ⸤while he was alive⸥ and didn’t even get an honorable burial ⸤after he died⸥. Suppose he had a hundred children and lived for many years. No matter how long he would have lived, it ⸤still⸥ would have been better for him to have been born dead. 4 A stillborn baby arrives in a pointless birth and goes out into the darkness. The darkness then hides its name. 5 Though it has never seen the sun or known anything, the baby finds more rest than the rich person. 6 Even if the rich person lives two thousand years without experiencing anything good—don’t we all go to the same place? 

7 Everything that people work so hard for goes into their mouths, but their appetite is never satisfied. 

8 What advantage does a wise person have over a fool? What advantage does a poor person have in knowing how to face life? 

9 It is better to look at what is in front of you than to go looking for what you want. Even this is pointless. ⸤It’s like⸥ trying to catch the wind. 

3 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. 4 For he comes in futility and he goes in darkness, and his name is shrouded in darkness. 5 Though a stillborn child does not see the sun and is not conscious, it has more rest than he. 6 And if he lives a thousand years twice, but does not experience happiness, do not both go to the same place?

7 All man’s labor is for his stomach,

yet the appetite is never satisfied.

8 What advantage then does the wise man have over the fool? What advantage is there for the poor person who knows how to conduct himself before others? 9 Better what the eyes see than wandering desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

3 A man may father a hundred children and live many years, but however many are the days of his years, if he does not enjoy life’s good things or has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4 For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered; 5 moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. 6 Even though he should live a thousand years twice over yet enjoy no good—do not all go to one place?

7 All human toil is for the mouth, yet the appetite is not satisfied. 8 For what advantage have the wise over fools? And what do the poor have who know how to conduct themselves before the living? 9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire; this also is vanity and a chasing after wind.

3 Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years so that the days of his years are many, if his heart is not satisfied with his prosperity and he does not receive a proper burial, 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 man lives a thousand years twice, if he does not enjoy prosperity, both suffer the same fate!

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?

9 Better to be content with what your eyes see

than for your soul to constantly crave more.

This also is vanity and chasing wind!

3 A man might have a hundred children. He might live a long time. But suppose he can’t enjoy his wealth. And suppose he isn’t buried in the proper way. Then it doesn’t matter how long he lives.

I’m telling you that a baby that is born dead is better off than he is. 4 That kind of birth doesn’t have any meaning. The baby dies in darkness and leaves this world. And in darkness it is forgotten. 5 It didn’t even see the sun. It didn’t know anything at all. But it has more rest than that man does. 6 And that’s true even if he lives for 2,000 years but doesn’t get to enjoy his wealth. All people die and go to the grave, don’t they?

7 Man eats up everything he works to get.

But he is never satisfied.

8 What advantage does a wise man have

over someone who is foolish?

What does a poor man gain

by knowing how to act toward others?

9 Being satisfied with what you have

is better than always wanting more.

That doesn’t have any meaning either.

It’s like chasing the wind.

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

4 for 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; it is better off than he.

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

7 All a man’s labor is for his mouth and yet the appetite is not satisfied.

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

9 What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires. This too is futility and a striving after wind.