1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy on men: 2 a man to whom God gives riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God gives him no power to eat of it, but an alien eats it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease. 3 If a man fathers a hundred children, and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not filled with good, and moreover he has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better than he; 4 for it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness. 5 Moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it. This has rest rather than the other. 6 Yes, though he live a thousand years twice told, and yet fails to enjoy good, don’t all go to one place? 7 All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. 8 For what advantage has the wise more than the fool? What has the poor man, that knows how to walk before the living? 9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind. 10 Whatever has been, its name was given long ago; and it is known what man is; neither can he contend with him who is mightier than he. 11 For there are many words that create vanity. What does that profit man? 12 For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spends like a shadow? For who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun?
Ecclesiastes · World English Bible (Classic, with Deuterocanon)
Ecclesiastes 6 World English Bible (Classic, with Deuterocanon)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
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Cross references (12)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Ecclesiastes 5:13
- 2 Ecclesiastes 5:19; Psalm 17:14; Psalm 73:7; Lamentations 5:2; 1 Kings 3:13
- 3 Job 3:16; Ecclesiastes 4:3; 2 Kings 9:35; Jeremiah 22:19; Genesis 47:9
- 4 Psalm 109:13
- 5 Psalm 90:7–9; Job 14:1; Psalm 58:8; Job 3:10–13
- 6 Ecclesiastes 3:20; Hebrews 9:27; Job 30:23; Job 1:21; Job 7:7
- 7 John 6:27; Proverbs 16:26; 1 Timothy 6:6–8; Matthew 6:25; Ecclesiastes 5:10
- 8 Proverbs 19:1; Ecclesiastes 2:14–16; Psalm 116:9; Psalm 101:2; Ecclesiastes 5:11
- 9 Ecclesiastes 1:14; Job 31:7; Ecclesiastes 11:9; Ecclesiastes 4:4; Ecclesiastes 2:11
- 10 Job 9:32; Isaiah 45:9–10; Job 40:2; Romans 9:19–20; Genesis 3:17–19
- 11 Ecclesiastes 4:16; Ecclesiastes 5:7; Hosea 12:1; Ecclesiastes 2:3–11; Ecclesiastes 4:1–4
- 12 James 4:14; Job 14:2; Ecclesiastes 3:22; Psalm 144:4; Lamentations 3:24–27
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences