Ecclesiastes 6 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

There is a sickness I've seen under the sun, and it weighs heavy on people:

God gives someone wealth, possessions, and status — everything they could want — but then God doesn't let them enjoy any of it. A stranger ends up consuming it all. This is vapor, and a deep wound.

Say someone fathers a hundred children and lives for many years — no matter how long their days — if their soul is never filled with good things, and they don't even get a proper burial, I say a stillborn child is better off than they are.

For it arrives in vapor and departs into darkness, and its name is covered in shadow.

It never saw the sun or knew anything, yet it has more rest than that person.

Even if someone lived two thousand years but never experienced anything good — doesn't everyone end up in the same place?

All of a person's labor is for their mouth, yet their appetite is never satisfied.

What advantage does a wise person have over a fool? What does a poor person gain by knowing how to navigate life?

Better what the eyes can see than the wandering of desire. This too is vapor — like chasing wind.

Whatever exists has already been named, and what humanity is has been known from the start. No one can argue with the one who is stronger.

The more words there are, the more vapor there is. How does that help anyone?

Who knows what is good for a person during the few days of their fleeting life, which they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell anyone what will happen under the sun after they're gone?