1. There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it is great among men:
2. A man to whom God has given riches, and wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires; yet God does not give him the power to eat of it, but a stranger eats it; this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
3. If a man fathers a hundred, and lives many years, and the days of his years are many, and his soul is not satisfied from the good, and also there is no burial for him; I say, a miscarriage is better than he.
4. For he comes in with vanity, and goes out in darkness; his name shall be covered in darkness.
5. Also he has not seen nor known the sun; this one has more rest than that one.
6. Yea, though he lives twice a thousand years, yet he has seen no good. Do not all go to one place?
7. All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the soul is not filled.
8. For what is the advantage to the wise more than the fool? What advantage is to the poor who knows how to walk before the living?
9. Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the soul. This is also vanity and striving after wind.
10. That which has been is named already, and it is known that he is man; and he is not able to contend with Him who is stronger than he.
11. For there are many things that increase vanity, and what is the advantage to man?
12. For who knows what is good for man in this life, the number of the days of his life of vanity? Even he makes them like the shadow. For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?