Ecclesiastes 6

There is an evil I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that his soul lacks nothing of all he desires, yet God does not enable him to enjoy it, and a stranger enjoys it. This is vanity and a grievous affliction. Though a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many the days of his years may be, if his soul is not satisfied with good and he does not even have a burial, I say a stillborn child is better off than he. For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, it has more rest than he. Even if he lives twice a thousand years but sees no good, do not all go to one place? All a man’s toil is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? What advantage has the poor man who knows how to walk among the living? Better what the eyes see than the wandering of desire. This too is vanity and a pursuit of wind. Whatever exists has already been named, and it is known what man is; he cannot contend with one stronger than himself. For there are many words that increase vanity. What does a man gain? For who knows what is good for a man in life, during the numbered days of his fleeting life, which he passes like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun?

Rights and attribution