1There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is great among men:

2A man to whom Elohim has given riches and wealth and esteem, so that his being lacks none at all of what he desires, but Elohim does not permit him to eat of it, and a foreigner consumes it. This is futile, and it is an evil disease.

3If a man brings forth a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his being is not satisfied with goodness, or indeed he has no burial, I say that a premature birth is better than he,

4for it comes in futility and goes away in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered;

5even the sun it has not seen – it has more rest than that man.

6And though he lives a thousand years twice over, yet he shall not see goodness. Do not all go to one place?

7All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not satisfied.

8For what advantage has the wise over the fool? What advantage does the poor have who knows how to walk before the living?

9What the eyes see is better than what the desire goes after. That too is futile and feeding on wind.

10Whatever shall be, has already been named, and it is known that he is son of Aḏam. And he is unable to contend with Him who is mightier than he.

11The more words, the more futility – what is to man the advantage?

12For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his futile life, which he passes like a shadow? For who declares to man what shall be after him, under the sun?