14 with kings and counselors of the earth who built for themselves places now desolate, 15 or with princes who possessed gold, who filled their palaces with silver. 16 Or why was I not buried like a stillborn infant, like infants who have never seen the light? 17 There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest. 18 There the prisoners relax together; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.

1 Here is another misfortune that I have seen on earth, and it weighs heavily on people: 2 God gives a man riches, property, and wealth so that he lacks nothing that his heart desires, yet God does not enable him to enjoy the fruit of his labor—instead, someone else enjoys it! This is fruitless and a grave misfortune. 3 Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, even if he lives a long, long time, but cannot enjoy his prosperity—even if he were to live forever—I would say, “A stillborn child is better off than he is.” 4 Though the stillborn child came into the world for no reason and departed into darkness, though its name is shrouded in darkness, 5 though it never saw the light of day nor knew anything, yet it has more rest than that man—