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