Ecclesiastes 6:1-9
Expanded Bible
6 I have ·seen [observed] something else ·wrong [evil] ·here on earth [L under the sun; 1:3] that ·causes serious problems for [is frequent among] people. 2 God gives great wealth, ·riches [possessions], and honor to some people; they ·have everything [L lack nothing] they want. But God does not let them ·enjoy such things [L eat of it]; a stranger ·enjoys them instead [L eats of it]. This is useless [1:2] and ·very wrong [a sickening evil]. 3 A man might have a hundred children and live ·a long time [L many years], but what good is it if he ·can’t enjoy the good God gives him [L is not satisfied with the good things he has] or have a proper burial? I say a ·baby born dead [stillborn] is better off than he is. 4 A ·baby born dead [stillborn] is useless [1:2]. ·It returns to darkness without even a name [L Its name is shrouded/obscured in darkness]. 5 That baby never saw the sun and never knew ·anything [or the sun], but it finds more rest than that man. 6 Even if he lives ·two thousand years [L a thousand years two times over], he doesn’t ·enjoy the good God gives him [L experience good times]. ·Everyone is going [L Do not all go…?] to the same place [C the grave].
7 ·People work just to feed themselves [L All toil of humans is for their mouths],
but ·they never seem to get enough to eat [L their appetite is never filled; Prov. 16:26].
8 In this way ·a wise person
is no better off than [L what advantage/profit is there for a wise person over…?] a fool.
·Then, too, it does a poor person little good
to know how to get along in life [What do the poor have by knowing how to act in front of the living?].
9 ·It is better to see what you have
than to want more [L The sight of the eyes is better than wandering desire].
·Wanting more [L This also] is useless [1:2]—
like chasing the wind.
Ecclesiastes 6:1-9
Amplified Bible
The Futility of Life
6 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on men: 2 a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God has not given him the power or capacity to enjoy them [all those things which are gifts from God], but a stranger [in whom he has no interest succeeds him and] enjoys them. This is vanity and it is a [cause of] great distress.(A) 3 If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they may be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he is not respected and is not given a proper burial [he is not laid to rest in the sepulcher of his fathers], then I say, “Better the miscarriage than he,(B) 4 for the miscarriage comes in futility (in vain) and passes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity. 5 It has not seen the sun nor had any knowledge; yet it has more rest and is better off than he. 6 Even if the other man lives a thousand years twice over and yet has seen no good and experienced no enjoyment—do not both go to one place [the grave]?”
7 All the labor of man is for his mouth [for self-preservation and enjoyment], and yet the desire [of his soul] is not satisfied.(C) 8 For what advantage has the wise man over the fool [for being worldly-wise is not the secret to happiness]? What advantage has the poor man who has learned how to walk [publicly] among the living [with men’s eyes on him; for being poor is not the secret to happiness either]? 9 What the eyes see [enjoying what is available] is better than [craving] what the soul desires. This too is futility and chasing after the wind.
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