If you see (A)oppression of the poor and (B)denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be (C)shocked at the [a]sight; for one [b]official watches over another [c]official, and there are higher [d]officials over them. After all, a king who cultivates the field is an advantage to the land.

The Folly of Riches

10 (D)He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is [e]vanity. 11 (E)When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the advantage to their owners except to [f]look on? 12 The sleep of the working man is (F)pleasant, whether he eats little or much; but the [g]full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to sleep.

13 There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: (G)riches being [h]hoarded by their owner to his hurt. 14 When those riches were lost through [i]a bad investment and he had fathered a son, then there was nothing [j]to support him. 15 (H)As he had come naked from his mother’s womb, so will he return as he came. He will (I)take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand. 16 This also is a grievous evil—exactly as a man [k]is born, thus will he [l]die. So (J)what is the advantage to him who (K)toils for the wind? 17 Throughout his life (L)he also eats in darkness with (M)great vexation, sickness and anger.

18 Here is what I have seen to be (N)good and [m]fitting: to eat, to drink and [n]enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few [o]years of his life which God has given him; for this is his [p](O)reward. 19 Furthermore, as for every man to whom (P)God has given riches and wealth, He has also (Q)empowered him to eat from them and to receive his [q]reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the (R)gift of God. 20 For he will not often [r]consider the [s]years of his life, because (S)God keeps [t]him occupied with the gladness of his heart.

The Futility of Life

There is an (T)evil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent [u]among men— a man to whom God has (U)given riches and wealth and honor so that his soul (V)lacks nothing of all that he desires; yet God has not empowered him to eat from them, for a foreigner [v]enjoys them. This is [w]vanity and a severe affliction. If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many [x]they be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper (W)burial, then I say, “Better (X)the miscarriage than he, for it comes in futility and goes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity. It never sees the sun and it never knows anything; [y]it is better off than he. Even if the other man lives a thousand years twice and does not [z]enjoy good things—(Y)do not all go to one place?”

(Z)All a man’s labor is for his mouth and yet the [aa]appetite is not [ab]satisfied. For (AA)what advantage does the wise man have over the fool? What advantage does the poor man have, knowing how to walk before the living? What the eyes (AB)see is better than what the soul [ac]desires. This too is (AC)futility and a striving after wind.

Notas al pie

  1. Ecclesiastes 5:8 Lit delight
  2. Ecclesiastes 5:8 Lit high one
  3. Ecclesiastes 5:8 Lit high one
  4. Ecclesiastes 5:8 Lit ones
  5. Ecclesiastes 5:10 Or futility
  6. Ecclesiastes 5:11 Lit see with their eyes
  7. Ecclesiastes 5:12 Lit satiety
  8. Ecclesiastes 5:13 Lit guarded
  9. Ecclesiastes 5:14 Lit an evil task
  10. Ecclesiastes 5:14 Lit in his hand
  11. Ecclesiastes 5:16 Lit comes
  12. Ecclesiastes 5:16 Lit go
  13. Ecclesiastes 5:18 Lit beautiful
  14. Ecclesiastes 5:18 Lit see good
  15. Ecclesiastes 5:18 Or days
  16. Ecclesiastes 5:18 Or share
  17. Ecclesiastes 5:19 Or share
  18. Ecclesiastes 5:20 Lit remember
  19. Ecclesiastes 5:20 Or days
  20. Ecclesiastes 5:20 So with Gr
  21. Ecclesiastes 6:1 Lit upon
  22. Ecclesiastes 6:2 Lit eats from them
  23. Ecclesiastes 6:2 Or futility
  24. Ecclesiastes 6:3 Lit the days of his years
  25. Ecclesiastes 6:5 Lit more rest has this one than that
  26. Ecclesiastes 6:6 Lit see
  27. Ecclesiastes 6:7 Lit soul
  28. Ecclesiastes 6:7 Lit filled
  29. Ecclesiastes 6:9 Lit goes after