1 There is an evil {ra’ah: harmful condition} which I have seen under the sun, and it is great upon mankind {adam: collective humanity}.
2 A man to whom God {Elohim, Supreme Bestower} gives wealth and possessions and honor, and he is not lacking for his soul {nefesh: whole self} anything from all that he desires, yet God does not enable him to eat from it, and a stranger will eat it; this is vanity and a grievous affliction.
3 If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years—so that the days of his years are many—but his soul {nefesh: inner being} is not satisfied with good, and he does not even have a burial {kever: proper interment}, I say that a stillborn is better than he.
4 For the stillborn child comes in vanity {hevel: vapor-like meaninglessness}, and goes in darkness {khoshekh: impenetrable obscurity}, and in darkness its name will be covered.
5 Also the stillborn child has not seen the sun nor has it known anything; rest {nachat: tranquility} belongs to this one more than to the other {mizeh: comparative counterpart}.
6 And even if he lived a thousand years twice {pa'amayim: dual count}, yet saw no goodness {tovah: lasting benefit}, do not all go to one place?
7 All the labor {ʿamal: exerted effort} of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite {nefesh: craving} is not filled.
8 For what advantage {yoter: comparative surplus} does the wise person have over the fool? What does the poor person who knows {yodea: discerns rightly} how to walk before the living gain?
9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire {nefesh: craving}; this also is vanity {hevel: fleeting vapor} and a striving after wind.
10 What has been is already called by its name, and it is known that he is man {adam: mortal human}, and he cannot contend {ladin: to argue or judge} with the one who is stronger than he.
11 For there are many words {devarim: arguments or claims} that multiply vanity; what advantage {yoter: enduring profit} does a man have?
12 For who knows what is good for a person in life during the number of days of his vain {hevel: fleeting vapor} existence which he spends like a shadow {tzel: passing shade}? For who can tell a person what will be after him under the sun?