| 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? | |
| 9 | Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind. | |
| 10 | Whatever one is, he has been named already, For it is known that he is man; And he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he. | |
| 11 | Since there are many things that increase vanity, How is man the better? | |
| 12 | For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he passes like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun? | |