The Futility of Life
There is another evil I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily upon mankind: Ecc 5:13 God gives a man riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires; but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a grievous affliction. Ecc 5:19Psa 17:14Psa 73:71Ki 3:13Lam 5:2Job 21:9-15Dan 5:18Luk 12:19-20
A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. Job 3:162Ki 9:35Ecc 4:3Jer 22:19Gen 47:9Isa 14:19-201Ch 28:51Sa 2:20-21 For a stillborn child enters in futility and departs in darkness, and his name is shrouded in obscurity. Psa 109:13 The child, though neither seeing the sun nor knowing anything, has more rest than that man, Job 14:1Job 3:10-13Psa 58:8Psa 90:7-9 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place? Ecc 3:20Heb 9:27Job 30:23Ecc 12:7Ecc 6:3Gen 5:23-24Gen 5:5Isa 65:20
All a man’s labor is for his mouth, Jhn 6:27Pro 16:261Ti 6:6-8Mat 6:25Ecc 5:10Ecc 6:3Luk 12:19Gen 3:17-19
yet his appetite is never satisfied. 1
What advantage, then, has the wise man over the fool? What gain comes to the poor man who knows how to conduct himself before others? Pro 19:1Ecc 2:14-161Ti 6:17Ecc 5:11Gen 17:1Luk 1:6Psa 101:2Psa 116:9 Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind. Ecc 1:14Job 31:7Ecc 1:2Ecc 11:9Ecc 2:11Ecc 3:12-13Ecc 4:4Ecc 5:18
Whatever exists was named long ago, and what happens to a man is foreknown; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he. Job 9:32Isa 45:9-10Job 40:2Ecc 3:15Gen 3:17-19Jer 49:19Job 33:13Rom 9:19-20 For the more words, the more futility—and how does that profit anyone? Ecc 4:16Ecc 5:7Ecc 1:17-18Ecc 1:6-9Ecc 2:3-11Ecc 3:19Ecc 4:1-4Ecc 4:8 For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun? Jas 4:14Job 14:2Ecc 3:22Lam 3:24-27Psa 144:4Psa 39:5-61Ch 29:15Ecc 8:13