1 ^rThere is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: 2 a man to whom God gives ^swealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, ^tbut a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity;¹ it is a grievous evil. 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 ^unot satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a ^vstillborn child is ^wbetter off than he. 4 For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. 5 Moreover, it has not ^xseen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. 6 Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy² no good—^ydo not all go to the one place?