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have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: 2 God gives a man riches, wealth, and honour, so that he lacks nothing of all he desires for himself, but God does not allow him to enjoy them; instead, a stranger enjoys them. This is futile, and it is a grievous evil.
3 A man may father a hundred children and live many years; yet even if the days of his years are many, if his soul is not satisfied by good things and he does not have a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4 For it comes in futility, and it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. 5 Though the stillborn child has never seen the sun or known anything, yet it has more rest than does the man— 6 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but has not enjoyed his life. Do not all go to the same place?
7 All of man’s toil is for his mouth,
and yet the appetite is never satisfied.
8 What advantage then has a wise man
over a fool?
What does a poor man gain
by knowing how to conduct himself before others?
9 Better what the eye sees
than the wandering of desire.
This too is futile,
a chasing after the wind.
10 Whatever exists has already been named,
and what man is has been known;
no man can contend
with one who is stronger than he.
11 The more the words,
the less the significance,
and how does that profit anyone?
12 For who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few days of his futile life he passes through like a shadow? For who can tell a man what will happen under the sun after he has gone?