There is another evil - I have seen under the sun , and it weighs heavily upon mankind :
God gives a man - riches , wealth , and honor , so that he lacks nothing his heart - - desires ; but God does not allow him to enjoy them -. Instead , a stranger ... will enjoy them. This is futile and a grievous affliction. ...
- A man may father a hundred (children) and live for many years ; yet no matter how long - he lives ... , if he vvv is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not ... even receive a proper burial , I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
For (a stillborn child) enters in futility and departs in darkness , and his name is shrouded in obscurity.
(The child) , though neither seeing the sun nor knowing anything , has more rest than (that man) ,
even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place ?
All a man’s labor (is) for his mouth , yet his appetite is never satisfied.
What advantage , then , has the wise man over the fool ? What (gain comes) to the poor man who knows how to conduct himself before others ?
Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
Whatever exists was named ... long ago , and what (happens) to a man is foreknown ; but he cannot ... contend with one stronger than he.
For vvv the more words , the more futility — and how does that profit anyone ?
For who knows what is good for a man - during the few days (in which) he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow ? - Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun ?