There is an evil which I have seen under the sun,{HR}And it is heavy upon men:
A man to whom God giveth riches, wealth, and honour,{HR}So that he lacketh nothing for his soul of all that he desireth,{HR}Yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof,{HR}But a stranger eateth it;{HR}This is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
If a man beget an hundred children,{HR}And live many years,{HR}So that the days of his years be many,{HR}But his soul be not filled with good,{HR}And moreover he have no burial; I say,{HR}That an untimely birth is better than he.
For it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness,{HR}And the name thereof is covered with darkness;
Moreover it hath not seen nor known the sun;{HR}This hath rest rather than the other.
Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told,{HR}Yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
All the labour of man is for his mouth,{HR}And yet the appetite is not filled.
For what advantage hath the wise more than the fool?{HR}What hath the poor man, that knoweth to walk before the living?
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire:{HR}This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Whatsoever hath been, the name thereof was given long ago,{HR}And it is known that it is man:{HR}Neither can he contend with him that is mightier than he.
Seeing there be many things that increase vanity,{HR}What is man the better?
For who knoweth what is good for man in life,{HR}All the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow?{HR}For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?