Ecclesiastes 6
6
The Rich Person and the Stillborn Baby
1There is a tragedy that I have seen under the sun. It is a terrible one for mortals. 2God gives one person riches, wealth, and honor so that he doesn’t lack anything he wants. Yet, God doesn’t give him the power to enjoy any of them. Instead, a stranger enjoys them. This is pointless and is a painful tragedy.
3Suppose a rich person wasn’t satisfied with good things ⌞while he was alive⌟ and didn’t even get an honorable burial ⌞after he died⌟. Suppose he had a hundred children and lived for many years. No matter how long he would have lived, it ⌞still⌟ would have been better for him to have been born dead. 4A stillborn baby arrives in a pointless birth and goes out into the darkness. The darkness then hides its name. 5Though it has never seen the sun or known anything, the baby finds more rest than the rich person. 6Even if the rich person lives two thousand years without experiencing anything good—don’t we all go to the same place?
More Pointless Challenges
7Everything that people work so hard for goes into their mouths, but their appetite is never satisfied.
8What advantage does a wise person have over a fool? What advantage does a poor person have in knowing how to face life?
9It is better to look at what is in front of you than to go looking for what you want. Even this is pointless. ⌞It’s like⌟ trying to catch the wind.
10Whatever has happened ⌞in the past⌟ already has a name. Mortals are already known for what they are. Mortals cannot argue with the one who is stronger than they.
11The more words there are, the more pointless they become. What advantage do mortals gain from this? 12Who knows what may be good for mortals while they are alive, during the brief, pointless days they live? Mortals pass by like a shadow. Who will tell them about their future under the sun?
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Ecclesiastes 6
6
1There#Eccl. 5:13 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, #Job 21:10; Ps. 17:14; 73:7so that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires; #Luke 12:20yet 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 #2 Kin. 9:35; Is. 14:19, 20; Jer. 22:19indeed he has no burial, I say that #Job 3:16; Ps. 58:8; Eccl. 4:3a 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 #Eccl. 2:14, 15place?
7#Prov. 16:26All 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 #Eccl. 11:9sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire.
This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
10Whatever one is, he has been named #Eccl. 1:9; 3:15already,
For it is known that he is man;
#Job 9:32; Is. 45:9; Jer. 49:19And he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he.
11Since there are many things that increase vanity,
How is man the better?
12For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he passes like #Ps. 102:11; James 4:14a shadow? #Ps. 39:6; Eccl. 3:22Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun?
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