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Ecclesiastes 6
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New American Standard Bible
©
The Futility of Life
1
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent among men
2
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.
3
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,
4
for it comes in futility and goes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity.
5
It never sees the sun and it never knows
anything;
it is better off than he.
6
Even if the
other
man lives a thousand years twice and does not enjoy good thingsdo not all go to one place?
7
All a mans labor is for his mouth and yet the appetite is not satisfied.
8
For what advantage does the wise man have over the fool? What
advantage
does the poor man have, knowing
how
to walk before the living?
9
What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires. This too is futility and a striving after wind.
10
Whatever exists has already been named, and it is known what man is; for he cannot dispute with him who is stronger than he is.
11
For there are many words which increase futility. What
then
is the advantage to a man?
12
For who knows what is good for a man during
his
lifetime,
during
the few years of his futile life? He will spend them like a shadow. For who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun?
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org
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