Ecclesiastes 6:1-9
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 6
1There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is widespread among mankind: 2a person to whom God has given riches, wealth, and honor, so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God has not given him the opportunity to enjoy these things, but a foreigner enjoys them. This is futility and a severe affliction. 3If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they may be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper burial, then I say, 'Better the miscarriage than he, 4for a miscarriage comes in futility and goes into darkness; and its name is covered in darkness. 5It has not even seen the sun nor does it know it; yet it is better off than that man. 6Even if the man lives a thousand years twice, but does not see good things—do not all go to one and the same place?'
7All a person’s labor is for his mouth, and yet his appetite is not satisfied.
8For what advantage does the wise person have over the fool? What does the poor person have, knowing how to walk before the living?
9What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires. This too is futility and striving after wind.
King James Version
Christian Standard Bible
Chapter 6
1Here is a tragedy I have observed under the sun, and it weighs heavily on humanity: 2God gives a person riches, wealth, and honor so that he lacks nothing of all he desires for himself, but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a sickening tragedy. 3A man may father a hundred children and live many years. No matter how long he lives, if he is not satisfied by good things and does not even have a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4For he comes in futility and he goes in darkness, and his name is shrouded in darkness. 5Though a stillborn child does not see the sun and is not conscious, it has more rest than he. 6And if a person lives a thousand years twice, but does not experience happiness, do not both go to the same place?New Living Translation
Chapter 6
1There is another serious tragedy I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on humanity. 2God gives some people great wealth and honor and everything they could ever want, but then he doesn’t give them the chance to enjoy these things. They die, and someone else, even a stranger, ends up enjoying their wealth! This is meaningless — a sickening tragedy.
3A man might have a hundred children and live to be very old. But if he finds no satisfaction in life and doesn’t even get a decent burial, it would have been better for him to be born dead.
4His birth would have been meaningless, and he would have ended in darkness. He wouldn’t even have had a name,
5and he would never have seen the sun or known of its existence. Yet he would have had more peace than in growing up to be an unhappy man.
6He might live a thousand years twice over but still not find contentment. And since he must die like everyone else — well, what’s the use?
English Standard Version
Chapter 6
1There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: 2a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil. 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 satisfied with life 's good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. 5Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. 6Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good — do not all go to the one place?
7All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.
8For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living?
9Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
New International Version
Chapter 6
1I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: 2God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.
3A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
4It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded.
5Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man—
6even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?
New King James Version
Chapter 6
1There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: 2A 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.
3If 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—
4for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness.
5Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man,
6even 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.
8For what more has the wise man than the fool? What does the poor man have, Who knows how to walk before the living?
9Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
