Ecclesiastes 6:3-5 in English

³ If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul be not filled with good, and moreover he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he:

⁴ for it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and the name thereof is covered with darkness;

⁵ moreover it hath not seen the sun nor known it; this hath rest rather than the other:

³ If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, yea, however abundant the days of his years shall be, yet if his soul shall not be satisfied with good, and also he have no burial; I said, An untimely birth is better than he.

⁴ For he came in vanity, and departs in darkness, and his name shall be covered in darkness.

⁵ Moreover he has not seen the sun, nor known rest: there is no more rest to this one than another.

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.

⁴ For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.

⁵ Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.

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.

⁴ For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.

⁵ Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.

³ If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, yes, however abundant the days of his years shall be, yet if his soul shall not be satisfied with good, and also he have no burial; I said, An untimely birth is better than he.

⁴ For he came in vanity, and departs in darkness, and his name shall be covered in darkness.

⁵ Moreover he has not seen the sun, nor known rest: there is no more rest to this one than another.

³ If a man beget an hundred children and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, but his soul be not filled with good, and moreover he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he:

⁴ for it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and the name thereof is covered with darkness;

⁵ moreover it hath not seen the sun nor known it; this hath rest rather than the other:

³ Someone might have a hundred children and live for many years. But if he is not able to enjoy the things that he has acquired, and if he is not buried properly after he dies, I say that a child that is dead when it is born is more fortunate.

⁴ That dead baby's birth is meaningless; it does not even have a name. It goes directly to the place where there is only darkness.

⁵ It does not live to see the sun or know anything. But it finds more rest than rich people do who are alive.

³ If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, yes, however abundant the days of his years shall be, yet if his soul shall not be satisfied with good, and also he have no burial; I said, An untimely birth is better than he.

⁴ For he came in vanity, and departs in darkness, and his name shall be covered in darkness.

⁵ Moreover he has not seen the sun, nor known rest: there is no more rest to this one than another.

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;

⁴ for it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness.

⁵ Moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it. This has rest rather than the other.

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;

⁴ for it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness.

⁵ Moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it. This has rest rather than the other.

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;

⁴ for it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness.

⁵ Moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it. This has rest rather than the other.

³ If a man has a hundred children, and his life is long so that the days of his years are great in number, but his soul takes no pleasure in good, and he is not honoured at his death; I say that a birth before its time is better than he.

⁴ In wind it came and to the dark it will go, and with the dark will its name be covered.

⁵ Yes, it saw not the sun, and it had no knowledge; it is better with this than with the other.

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 cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness;

⁵ moreover it hath not seen nor known the sun: this hath rest rather than the other.

³ If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, and attain to a great age, and his soul make no use of the goods of his substance, and he be without burial: of this man I pronounce, that the untimely born is better than he.

⁴ For he came in vain, and goeth to darkness, and his name shall be wholly forgotten.

⁵ He hath not seen the sun, nor known the distance of good and evil:

³ A man could have one hundred children, and grow old, but it wouldn't matter how long his life was if he couldn't enjoy it and at the end receive a decent burial. I would say that a stillborn child would be better off than him.

⁴ The way a stillborn child comes into the world and then leaves is painfully hard to understand—arriving and departing in darkness—and who he would have been is never known.

⁵ He never saw the light of day or knew what it was like to live. Yet the child finds rest, and not this man.

³ If a man beget an hundreth children and liue many yeeres, and the dayes of his yeeres be multiplied, and his soule be not satisfied with good things, and he be not buried, I say that an vntimely fruite is better then he.

⁴ For he commeth into vanitie and goeth into darkenesse: and his name shall be couered with darkenesse.

⁵ Also he hath not seene ye sunne, nor knowen it: therefore this hath more rest then the other.

³ If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul have not enough of good, and moreover he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he;

⁴ for it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and the name thereof is covered with darkness;

⁵ moreover it hath not seen the sun nor known it; this hath gratification rather than the other;

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.

⁴ For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.

⁵ Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.

³ If a man were to beget a hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years were many, and his soul were not satisfied with what is good, and he have not had even a burial: then do I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.

⁴ For in vanity it came, and in darkness it departeth, and with darkness will its name be covered.

⁵ Moreover it never saw the sun, and knew nothing: this hath more rest than the other.

³ If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, Yea, however abundant the days of his years shall be, Yet if his soul shall not be satisfied with good, And also he have no burial; I said, An untimely birth is better than he.

⁴ For he came in vanity, and departs in darkness, And his name shall be covered in darkness.

⁵ Moreover he has not seen the sun, nor known rest: There is no more rest to this one than another.

³ Though a man have a hundred children, and live many years, and though the days of his years be many, if his soul be not satisfied with good, and he have no burial, I say that an untimely birth is better than he.

⁴ This, indeed, cometh in nothingness, and goeth down into darkness, and its name is covered with darkness;

⁵ it hath not seen the sun, nor known it; yet hath it rest rather than the other.

³ If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but if his heart is not satisfied with good and he is not buried, then I say that a baby that is born dead is better off than he is.

⁴ Even such a baby is born in futility and passes away in darkness, and its name remains hidden.

⁵ Although this child does not see the sun or know anything, it has rest even though that man did not.

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;

⁴ for it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness.

⁵ Moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it. This has rest rather than the other.

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;

⁴ for it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness.

⁵ Moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it. This has rest rather than the other.

³ If a man begetteth a hundred children , and liveth many years, so that the days of his years are many, and his soul is not filled with good, and also that he hath no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.

⁴ For he cometh with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.

⁵ Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing : this hath more rest than the other.

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;

⁴ for it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness.

⁵ Moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it. This has rest rather than the other.

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;

⁴ for it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness.

⁵ Moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it. This has rest rather than the other.

³ If a man engendereth an hundred free sons, and hath many days of age, and his soul useth not the goods of his chattel or substance, and wanteth burying; I pronounce of this man, that a dead-born child is better than he.

⁴ For he cometh in vain, and goeth to darknesses; and his name shall be done away by forgetting.

⁵ He saw not the sun, neither knew the diversity of good and of evil;

³ If a man engendereth an hundred free sons, and hath many days of age, and his soul useth not the goods of his chattel, and wanteth burying; I pronounce of this man, that a dead-born child is better than he. (Yea, if a man begetteth a hundred sons, and hath many years of age, and yet he is not able to enjoy the good things in his life, and at the last he even lacketh a proper burial, or a proper tomb; I declare of this man, that a still-born child is better than he.)

⁴ For he cometh in vain, and goeth to darknesses; and his name shall be done away by forgetting.

⁵ He saw not the sun, neither knew the diversity of good and of evil;

³ If a man doth beget a hundred, and live many years, and is great, because they are the days of his years, and his soul is not satisfied from the goodness, and also he hath not had a grave, I have said, 'Better than he is the untimely birth.'

⁴ For in vanity he came in, and in darkness he goeth, and in darkness his name is covered,

⁵ Even the sun he hath not seen nor known, more rest hath this than that.