- There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:
- A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
- If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.
- For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.
- Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.
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- There is an evil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent among men--
- a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires; yet God has not empowered him to eat from them, for a foreigner enjoys them. This is vanity and a severe affliction.
- If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper burial, then I say, "Better 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; it is better off than he.
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