1 There is an evil I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind:
2 a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions and honor, so that he lacks nothing his soul could wish for, yet God does not give him the power to enjoy them, and a stranger enjoys them instead. This is vanity, a grievous affliction.
3 If a man has a hundred children and lives many years, however many the days of his years, but his soul does not have its fill of good things and he has no burial either, I say a stillborn child is better off than he.
4 For it comes in vanity and goes off into darkness, and in darkness its name is hidden.
5 It has never seen the sun or known anything; yet it has more rest than he.
6 Even if he should live a thousand years twice, yet not enjoy good, do not all go to the same place?
7 All a man's labor is for his mouth, and still his soul is never filled.
8 For what does the wise man have more than the fool? What does the poor man gain by knowing how to conduct himself before the living?
9 Better what the eyes can see than the roving of the soul. This too is vanity and a chasing of the wind.
10 Whatever exists has already been named, and it is known what man is; he cannot dispute with one stronger than himself.
11 The more words there are, the more vanity there is. What does man gain from it?
12 For who knows what is good for man in life, during the few days of his life of vanity, which he passes like a shadow? Who can tell man what will happen under the sun after he is gone?