Ecclesiastes 6
6
Don't depend on wealth
1There is something else terribly unfair, and it troubles everyone on earth. 2God may give you everything you want—money, property, and wealth. Then God doesn't let you enjoy it, and someone you don't even know gets it all. That's senseless and terribly unfair!
3You may live a long time and have a hundred children. But a child born dead is better off than you, unless you enjoy life and have a decent burial. 4-5That child will never live to see the sun or to have a name, and it will go straight to the world of darkness. But it will still find more rest than you, 6even if you live two thousand years and don't enjoy life. As you know, we all end up in the same place.
7We struggle just to have enough to eat, but we are never satisfied. 8We may be sensible, yet we are no better off than a fool. And if we are poor, it still doesn't do us any good to try to live right. 9It's better to enjoy what we have than always to want something else, because that makes no more sense than chasing the wind.#6.9 chasing the wind: See the note at 1.14.
10Everything that happens was decided long ago. We humans know what we are like, and we can't argue with God, because he is#6.10 with God, because he is: Or “with anyone who is”. too strong for us. 11The more we talk, the less sense we make, so what good does it do to talk? 12Life is short and meaningless, and it fades away like a shadow. Who knows what is best for us? Who knows what will happen after we are gone?
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Ecclesiastes 6
6
1I have seen something else wrong here on earth that causes serious problems for people. 2God gives great wealth, riches, and honor to some people; they have everything they want. But God does not let them enjoy such things; a stranger enjoys them instead. This is useless and very wrong. 3A man might have a hundred children and live a long time, but what good is it if he can’t enjoy the good God gives him or have a proper burial? I say a baby born dead is better off than he is. 4A baby born dead is useless. It returns to darkness without even a name. 5That baby never saw the sun and never knew anything, but it finds more rest than that man. 6Even if he lives two thousand years, he doesn’t enjoy the good God gives him. Everyone is going to the same place.
7People work just to feed themselves,
but they never seem to get enough to eat.
8In this way a wise person
is no better off than a fool.
Then, too, it does a poor person little good
to know how to get along in life.
9It is better to see what you have
than to want more.
Wanting more is useless—
like chasing the wind.
Who Can Understand God’s Plan?
10Whatever happens was planned long ago.
Everyone knows what people are like.
No one can argue with God,
who is stronger than anyone.
11The more you say,
the more useless it is.
What good does it do?
12People have only a few useless days of life on the earth; their short life passes like a shadow. Who knows what is best for them while they live? Who can tell them what the future will bring?
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.