Ecclesiastes 6

Wycliffe Bible

6 Also another evil there is (There is also another evil), which I saw under the sun; and certainly it is oft used with men.

² A man is, to whom God gave riches, and chattel, and honour; and nothing faileth to his soul of all things which he desireth; and God giveth not power to him, that he eat thereof, but a strange man shall devour it^[a]. This is vanity, and a great wretchedness. (There is a person, to whom God gave riches, and possessions, and honour; and he lacketh nothing of all the things which he desireth; but God giveth him not the power to enjoy those things, but a stranger shall enjoy them. This is empty and futile, and a great wretchedness.)

³ If a man engendereth an hundred free sons, and hath many days of age, and his soul useth not the goods of his chattel, and wanteth burying; I pronounce of this man, that a dead-born child is better than he. (Yea, if a man begetteth a hundred sons, and hath many years of age, and yet he is not able to enjoy the good things in his life, and at the last he even lacketh a proper burial, or a proper tomb; I declare of this man, that a still-born child is better than he.)

⁴ For he cometh in vain, and goeth to darknesses; and his name shall be done away by forgetting.

⁵ He saw not the sun, neither knew the diversity of good and of evil;

⁶ also though he live two thousand years, and useth not goods; whether all things hasten not to one place? (even if he live two thousand years, he hath not enjoyed the good things in his life; and do not all hasten to one and the same place?)

⁷ All the travail of a man is in his mouth, but the soul of him shall not be [ful]filled with goods. (All the labour of a person is for his mouth, yet his belly, or his appetite, shall never be fulfilled with enough good things.)

⁸ What hath a wise man more than a fool? and what hath a poor man, but that he go thither, where is life? (What more hath a person who is wise, than a person who is a fool? or what hath someone who is poor, but that he go there, with a knowledge, or with an understanding, of life?)

⁹ It is better to see that, that thou covetest, than to desire that, that thou knowest not; but also this is vanity, and presumption of spirit. (It is better to see what thou covetest, than to desire what thou knowest not; but this is also empty and futile, like chasing the wind.)

¹⁰ The name of him that shall come, is called now, and it is known, that he is a man, and he may not strive in doom against a stronger than himself. (The name of what is to come is known and understood, and it is also known, that one cannot argue in court against someone stronger than oneself.)

¹¹ Words be full many, and have much vanity in disputing. What need is it to a man to seek greater things than himself; (There can be a great many words, but there is much that is empty and futile in disputing, or in arguing. What profiteth it to someone,)

¹² since he knoweth not, what shall befall to him in his life, in the number of (the) days of his pilgrimage, and in the time that passeth as (a) shadow? either who may show to him, what thing under [the] sun shall come after him?