⁵ You have made my days^(A) a mere handbreadth;
    the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,^(B)
    even those who seem secure.^[a]

⁹ Surely the lowborn^(A) are but a breath,^(B)
    the highborn are but a lie.
If weighed on a balance,^(C) they are nothing;
    together they are only a breath.

² “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
    says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
    Everything is meaningless.”^(A)