Ecclesiastes 6
New American Standard Bible 1995
The Futility of Life
6 There is an (A)evil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent [a]among men— 2 a man to whom God has (B)given riches and wealth and honor so that his soul (C)lacks nothing of all that he desires; yet God has not empowered him to eat from them, for a foreigner [b]enjoys them. This is [c]vanity and a severe affliction. 3 If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many [d]they be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper (D)burial, then I say, “Better (E)the miscarriage than he, 4 for it comes in futility and goes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity. 5 It never sees the sun and it never knows anything; [e]it is better off than he. 6 Even if the other man lives a thousand years twice and does not [f]enjoy good things—(F)do not all go to one place?”
7 (G)All a man’s labor is for his mouth and yet the [g]appetite is not [h]satisfied. 8 For (H)what advantage does the wise man have over the fool? What advantage does the poor man have, knowing how to walk before the living? 9 What the eyes (I)see is better than what the soul [i]desires. This too is (J)futility and a striving after wind.
10 Whatever (K)exists has already been named, and it is known what man is; for he (L)cannot dispute with him who is stronger than he is. 11 For there are many words which increase futility. What then is the advantage to a man? 12 For who knows what is good for a man during his lifetime, during the few [j]years of his futile life? He will [k]spend them like a shadow. For who can tell a man (M)what will be after him under the sun?
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 6:1 Lit upon
- Ecclesiastes 6:2 Lit eats from them
- Ecclesiastes 6:2 Or futility
- Ecclesiastes 6:3 Lit the days of his years
- Ecclesiastes 6:5 Lit more rest has this one than that
- Ecclesiastes 6:6 Lit see
- Ecclesiastes 6:7 Lit soul
- Ecclesiastes 6:7 Lit filled
- Ecclesiastes 6:9 Lit goes after
- Ecclesiastes 6:12 Lit days
- Ecclesiastes 6:12 Lit do
Ecclesiastes 6
Legacy Standard Bible
The Vanity of Life
6 There is an (A)evil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent [a]among men— 2 a man to whom God (B)gives riches and wealth and honor so that his soul (C)lacks nothing of all that he desires; yet God does not empower him to eat from them, for a foreigner eats from them. This is [b]vanity and a sickening evil. 3 If a man becomes the father of one hundred children and lives many years, however many the days of his years may be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things, and he does not even have a proper (D)burial, then I say, “Better (E)the miscarriage than he, 4 for that one comes in vanity and goes into darkness; and that one’s name is covered in darkness. 5 Indeed, that one never sees the sun and never knows anything; [c]that one has more rest than he. 6 Even if the other man lives one thousand years twice and does not see good things—(F)do not all go to the same place?”
7 (G)All a man’s labor is for his mouth, and yet the soul is not fulfilled. 8 For (H)what advantage does the wise man have over the fool? What advantage does the afflicted man have, knowing how to walk before the living? 9 What the eyes (I)see is better than what the soul goes after. This too is (J)vanity and striving after wind.
10 Whatever (K)exists has already been named, and it is known what man is; and he (L)cannot dispute with him who is stronger than he is. 11 For there are many words which increase vanity. What then is the advantage to a man? 12 For who knows what is good for a man during his lifetime, during the few days of his vain life? He will make do with them like a (M)shadow. For who can tell a man (N)what will be after him under the sun?
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 6:1 Lit upon
- Ecclesiastes 6:2 Or futility
- Ecclesiastes 6:5 Lit more rest has this one than that
Ecclesiastes 6
New American Standard Bible
The Futility of Life
6 There is an (A)evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is widespread [a]among mankind: 2 a person to whom God has (B)given riches, wealth, and honor, so that his soul (C)lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God has not given him the opportunity to [b]enjoy these things, but a foreigner [c]enjoys them. This is futility and a severe affliction. 3 If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many [d]they may be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper (D)burial, then I say, “Better (E)the miscarriage than he, 4 for a miscarriage comes in futility and goes into darkness; and its name is covered in darkness. 5 It has not even seen the sun nor does it know it; yet [e]it is better off than that man. 6 Even if the man lives a thousand years twice, but does not see good things—(F)do not all go to one and the same place?”
7 (G)All a person’s labor is for his mouth, and yet [f]his appetite is not [g]satisfied. 8 For (H)what advantage does the wise person have over the fool? What does the poor person have, knowing how to walk before the living? 9 What the eyes (I)see is better than what the soul [h]desires. This too is (J)futility and striving after wind.
10 Whatever (K)exists has already been named, and it is known what man is; for he (L)cannot dispute with the [i]one who is mightier than he is. 11 For there are many words which increase futility. What then is the advantage to a person? 12 For who knows what is good for a person during his lifetime, during the few [j]years of his futile life? He will [k]spend them like a shadow. For who can tell a person (M)what will happen after him under the sun?
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 6:1 Lit upon
- Ecclesiastes 6:2 Lit eat from it
- Ecclesiastes 6:2 Lit eats it
- Ecclesiastes 6:3 Lit the days of his years
- Ecclesiastes 6:5 Lit more rest has this one than that
- Ecclesiastes 6:7 Lit the soul
- Ecclesiastes 6:7 Lit filled
- Ecclesiastes 6:9 Lit goes after
- Ecclesiastes 6:10 Or Him who
- Ecclesiastes 6:12 Lit days
- Ecclesiastes 6:12 Lit do
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New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.