| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1There is another evil I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily upon mankind: | 1There is another serious tragedy I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on humanity. |
| 2God 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. | 2God gives some people great wealth and honor and everything they could ever want, but then he doesn’t give them the chance to enjoy these things. They die, and someone else, even a stranger, ends up enjoying their wealth! This is meaningless—a sickening tragedy. |
| 3A 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. | 3A man might have a hundred children and live to be very old. But if he finds no satisfaction in life and doesn’t even get a decent burial, it would have been better for him to be born dead. |
| 4For a stillborn child enters in futility and departs in darkness, and his name is shrouded in obscurity. | 4His birth would have been meaningless, and he would have ended in darkness. He wouldn’t even have had a name, |
| 5The child, though neither seeing the sun nor knowing anything, has more rest than that man, | 5and he would never have seen the sun or known of its existence. Yet he would have had more peace than in growing up to be an unhappy man. |
| 6even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place? | 6He might live a thousand years twice over but still not find contentment. And since he must die like everyone else—well, what’s the use? |
| 7All a man’s labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied. | 7All people spend their lives scratching for food, but they never seem to have enough. |
| 8What advantage, then, has the wise man over the fool? What gain comes to the poor man who knows how to conduct himself before others? | 8So are wise people really better off than fools? Do poor people gain anything by being wise and knowing how to act in front of others? |
| 9Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind. | 9Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind. The Future—Determined and Unknown |
| 10Whatever exists was named long ago, and what happens to a man is foreknown; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he. | 10Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each person would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny. |
| 11For the more words, the more futility—and how does that profit anyone? | 11The more words you speak, the less they mean. So what good are they? |
| 12For 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? | 12In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can best be spent? Our lives are like a shadow. Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone? |
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