1There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:
2a man to whom God hath given riches, wealth and honor, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not the power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
3If a man beget a hundred children and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial, I say that an untimely birth is better than he,
4for he cometh in with vanity and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness;
5moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing. This one hath more rest than the other:
6yea, though he live a thousand years twicetold, yet he hath seen no good. Do not all go to one place?
7All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
8For what hath the wise more than the fool? What hath the poor, who knoweth how to walk before the living?
9Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
10That which hath been is named already, and it is known what man is; neither may he contend with Him that is mightier than he.
11Seeing there are many things that increase vanity, how is man the better?
12For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life being spent as a shadow? For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?