The Futility of Life 1 DRA There is also another evil, which I have seen under the sun, and that frequent among men: BSB BSB: There is another evil I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily upon mankind:
2 DRA A man to whom God hath given riches, and substance, and honour, and his soul wanteth nothing of all that he desireth: yet God doth not give him power to eat thereof, but a stranger shall eat it up. This is vanity and a great misery. BSB BSB: God gives a man riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires; but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a grievous affliction.
3 DRA If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, and attain to a great age, and his soul make no use of the goods of his substance, and he be without burial: of this man I pronounce, that the untimely born is better than he. BSB BSB: A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
4 DRA For he came in vain, and goeth to darkness, and his name shall be wholly forgotten. BSB BSB: For a stillborn child enters in futility and departs in darkness, and his name is shrouded in obscurity.
5 DRA He hath not seen the sun, nor known the distance of good and evil: BSB BSB: The child, though neither seeing the sun nor knowing anything, has more rest than that man,
6 DRA Although he lived two thousand years, and hath not enjoyed good things: do not all make haste to one place? BSB BSB: even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?
7 DRA All the labour of man is for his mouth, but his soul shall not be filled. BSB BSB: All a man’s labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.
8 DRA What hath the wise man more than the fool? and what the poor man, but to go thither, where there is life? BSB BSB: What advantage, then, has the wise man over the fool? What gain comes to the poor man who knows how to conduct himself before others?
9 DRA Better it is to see what thou mayst desire, than to desire that which thou canst not know. But this also is vanity, and presumption of spirit. BSB BSB: Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
10 DRA He that shall be, his name is already called: and it is known, that he is man, and cannot contend in judgment with him that is stronger than himself. BSB BSB: Whatever exists was named long ago, and it is known what man is; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he.
11 DRA There are many words that have much vanity in disputing. BSB BSB: For the more words, the more futility—and how does that profit anyone?
12 DRA What needeth a man to seek things that are above him, whereas he knoweth not what is profitable for him in his life, in all the days of his pilgrimage, and the time that passeth like a shadow? Or who can tell him what shall be after him under the sun? BSB BSB: For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.