 |  | Ecclesiastes 6 |  |  |
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The Futility of Life | ||||
 NASB | KJV | GWT | WEB | DBY |
| 1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent among men-- | 1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: | 1 There is a tragedy that I have seen under the sun. It is a terrible one for mortals. | 1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy on men: | 1 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it is frequent 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. | 2 A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease. | 2 God gives one person riches, wealth, and honor so that he doesn't lack anything he wants. Yet, God doesn't give him the power to enjoy any of them. Instead, a stranger enjoys them. This is pointless and is a painful tragedy. | 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. | 2 one to whom God giveth riches, wealth, and honour, and he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and a sore evil. | 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, | 3 If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he. | 3 Suppose a rich person wasn't satisfied with good things [while he was alive] and didn't even get an honorable burial [after he died]. Suppose he had a hundred children and lived for many years. No matter how long he would have lived, it [still] would have been better for him to have been born dead. | 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: | 3 If a man beget a hundred sons, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, but his soul be not filled with good, and also he have no burial, I say an untimely birth is better than he. | 4 for it comes in futility and goes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity. | 4 For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness. | 4 A stillborn baby arrives in a pointless birth and goes out into the darkness. The darkness then hides its name. | 4 for it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness. | 4 For it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness; | 5 "It never sees the sun and it never knows anything; it is better off than he. | 5 Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other. | 5 Though it has never seen the sun or known anything, the baby finds more rest than the rich person. | 5 Moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it. This has rest rather than the other. | 5 moreover it hath not seen nor known the sun: this hath rest rather than the other. | NASB | KJV | GWT | WEB | DBY |
| 6 "Even if the other man lives a thousand years twice and does not enjoy good things-- do not all go to one place?" | 6 Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place? | 6 Even if the rich person lives two thousand years without experiencing anything good-don't we all go to the same place? | 6 Yes, though he live a thousand years twice told, and yet fails to enjoy good, don't all go to one place? | 6 Yea, though he live twice a thousand years, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place? | 7 All a man's labor is for his mouth and yet the appetite is not satisfied. | 7 All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. | 7 Everything that people work so hard for goes into their mouths, but their appetite is never satisfied. | 7 All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. | 7 All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. | 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? | 8 For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living? | 8 What advantage does a wise person have over a fool? What advantage does a poor person have in knowing how to face life? | 8 For what advantage has the wise more than the fool? What has the poor man, that knows how to walk before the living? | 8 For what advantage hath the wise above the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth 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. | 9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit. | 9 It is better to look at what is in front of you than to go looking for what you want. Even this is pointless. [It's like] trying to catch the wind. | 9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind. | 9 Better is the seeing of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this also is vanity and pursuit of the 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. | 10 That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he. | 10 Whatever has happened [in the past] already has a name. Mortals are already known for what they are. Mortals cannot argue with the one who is stronger than they. | 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. | 10 That which is hath already been named; and what man is, is known, and that he cannot contend with him that is mightier than he. | NASB | KJV | GWT | WEB | DBY |
| 11 For there are many words which increase futility. What then is the advantage to a man? | 11 Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better? | 11 The more words there are, the more pointless they become. What advantage do mortals gain from this? | 11 For there are many words that create vanity. What does that profit man? | 11 For there are many things that increase vanity: what is man advantaged? | 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? | 12 For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun? | 12 Who knows what may be good for mortals while they are alive, during the brief, pointless days they live? Mortals pass by like a shadow. Who will tell them about their future under the sun? | 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? | 12 For who knoweth what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell man what shall be after him under the sun? |
<< Ecclesiastes 6 >> 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. GOD'S WORD is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Quotations are used by permission. Copyright 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. The World English Bible is a 1997 revision of the American Standard Version of the Holy Bible, first published in 1901. It is in the Public Domain. Please feel free to copy and distribute it freely. Thank you to Michael Paul Johnson for making this work available. For the latest information, to report corrections, or for other correspondence, visit www.ebible.org. | ||||