¹There is an evil which I have seen under the sun , and it is heavy on men :

²a man to whom God gives riches , wealth , and honour , so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God gives him no power to eat of it , but an alien eats it . This is vanity , and it is an evil disease .

³If a man fathers a hundred children , and lives many years , so that the days of his years are many , but his soul is not filled with good , and moreover he has no burial , I say that a stillborn child is better than he ;

⁴for it comes in vanity , and departs in darkness , and its name is covered with darkness .

⁵Moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it . This has rest rather than the other .

⁶Yes , though he live a thousand years twice told, and yet fails to enjoy good , don’t all go to one place ?

⁷All the labour of man is for his mouth , and yet the appetite is not filled .

⁸For what advantage has the wise more than the fool ? What has the poor man , that knows how to walk before the living ?

⁹Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire . This also is vanity and a chasing after wind .

¹⁰Whatever has been , its name was given long ago; and it is known what man is ; neither can he contend with him who is mightier than he .

¹¹For there are many words that create vanity . What does that profit man?

¹²For who knows what is good for man in life , all the days of his vain life which he spends like a shadow ? For who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun ?