(KJV) Ecclesiastes 61

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⥃The Futility of Life

[1] There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it [is] common among men:2 [2] A man3 to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so4 that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet5 God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but6 a stranger eateth it: this [is] vanity7, and it [is] an evil disease.

[3] [¶]If a man8 beget an hundred [children], and live many years, so9 that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also10 [that] he have no burial; I say, [that] an11 untimely birth [is] better than he. [4] For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name12 shall be covered with darkness. [5] Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known [any thing]: this13 hath more rest than the other.

[6] [¶]Yea, though14 he live a thousand years twice [told], yet15 hath he seen no good: do16 not all go to one place? [7] All the labour17 of man [is] for his mouth, and yet the appetite18 is not filled. [8] For what hath the wise19 more than the fool? what hath the poor20, that knoweth to walk before the living?

[9] [¶]Better21 [is] the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire22: this23 [is] also vanity and vexation of spirit. [10] That which24 hath been is named already, and it25 is known that it [is] man: neither26 may he contend with him that is mightier than he.

[11] Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what [is] man the better?27 [12] For who knoweth28 what [is] good for man in [this] life, all the days of his vain life29 which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can30 tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?

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  1. Eccl 6:1, The vanity of riches without use; Eccl 6:3, though a man have many children and a long life; Eccl 6:7, The vanity of sight and wandering desires; Eccl 6:10, The conclusion of vanities. ↩

  2. Eccl 5:13 ↩

  3. Eccl 5:19; 1Kgs 3:13; 1Chr 29:25, 1Chr 29:28; 2Chr 1:11; Dan 5:18 ↩

  4. Eccl 2:4-10; Deut 8:7-10; Judg 18:10; Job 21:9-15; Ps 17:14, Ps 73:7; Luke 12:19-20 ↩

  5. A man may possess much earthly goods, and yet have neither the heart nor power to enjoy them. Possession and fruition are not necessarily joined together; and this is also among the vanities of life, and was and still is a very "common evil among men." It belongs to God as much to give the power to enjoy, as it does to give earthly blessings. ↩

  6. Deut 28:33, Deut 28:43; Ps 39:6; Lam 5:2; Hos 7:9 ↩

  7. Eccl 4:4, Eccl 4:8, Eccl 5:16 ↩

  8. Gen 33:5; 1Sam 2:20-21; 2Kgs 10:1; 1Chr 28:5; 2Chr 11:21; Esth 5:11; Ps 127:4-5; Prov 17:6 ↩

  9. Eccl 5:17-19; Gen 47:9 ↩

  10. 2Kgs 9:35; Esth 7:10, Esth 9:14-15; Isa 14:19-20; Jer 22:19, Jer 36:30 ↩

  11. Eccl 4:3; Job 3:16; Ps 58:8; Matt 26:24 ↩

  12. Ps 109:13 ↩

  13. Job 3:10-13, Job 14:1; Ps 58:8, Ps 90:7-9 ↩

  14. Gen 5:5, Gen 5:23-24; Isa 65:22 ↩

  15. Eccl 6:3; Job 7:7; Ps 4:6-7, Ps 34:12; Isa 65:20; Jer 17:6 ↩

  16. Eccl 3:20, Eccl 12:7; Job 1:21, Job 30:23; Heb 9:27 ↩

  17. Gen 3:17-19; Prov 16:26; Matt 6:25; John 6:27; 1Tim 6:6-8 ↩

  18. Heb. soul, Eccl 6:3, Eccl 5:10; Luke 12:19 ↩

  19. Eccl 2:14-16, Eccl 5:11 ↩

  20. Gen 17:1; Ps 101:2, Ps 116:9; Prov 19:1; Luke 1:6; 1Tim 6:17 ↩

  21. Eccl 2:24, Eccl 3:12-13, Eccl 5:18 ↩

  22. Heb. walking of the soul, Job 31:7; Prov 30:15-16; Jer 2:20 ↩

  23. Eccl 6:2, Eccl 1:2, Eccl 1:14, Eccl 2:11, Eccl 2:22-23, Eccl 4:4 ↩

  24. Eccl 1:9-11, Eccl 3:15 ↩

  25. Gen 3:9, Gen 3:17-19; Job 14:1-4; Ps 39:6, Ps 82:6-7, Ps 103:15 ↩

  26. Job 9:3-4, Job 9:32, Job 33:13, Job 40:2; Isa 45:9-10; Jer 49:19; Rom 9:19-20 ↩

  27. Eccl 1:6-9, Eccl 1:17-18, Eccl 2:3-11, Eccl 3:19, Eccl 4:1-4, Eccl 4:8, Eccl 4:16, Eccl 5:7; Ps 73:6; Hos 12:1 ↩

  28. Eccl 2:3, Eccl 12:13; Ps 4:6, Ps 16:5, Ps 17:15, Ps 47:4; Lam 3:24-27; Mic 6:8 ↩

  29. Heb. the number of the days of the life of his vanity, Eccl 8:13, Eccl 9:6; 1Chr 29:15; Job 8:9, Job 14:2; Ps 39:5-6, Ps 89:47, Ps 90:10-12; Ps 102:11, Ps 109:23, Ps 144:4; Jas 4:14 ↩

  30. Eccl 3:22, Eccl 8:7; Job 14:21 ↩