The Bible in Basic English BBE
Orthodox Jewish Bible OJB
1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is hard on men;
1
There is a ra’ah which I have seen under the shemesh, and it is a great weight upon the adam;
2 A man to whom God gives money, wealth, and honour so that he has all his desires but God does not give him the power to have joy of it, and a strange man takes it. This is to no purpose and an evil disease.
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An ish to whom HaElohim hath given osher (riches), nekhasim (possessions), and kavod (honor), so that he wanteth nothing for his nefesh of all that he desireth, yet HaElohim giveth him not shlitah (empowerment) to have enjoyment thereof, but an ish nochri (stranger) hath the enjoyment thereof; this is hevel, and it is a grievous ill.
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.
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If an ish beget a hundredfold, and live shanim rabbot, so that rav be the yamim of his shanim, and his nefesh be not filled with hatovah, and also that he have no kevurah (grave); I say, that a nefel (stillborn) 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.
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For he cometh in with hevel, and departeth in choshech, and shmo shall be shrouded with choshech.
5 Yes, it saw not the sun, and it had no knowledge; it is better with this than with the other.
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Moreover though he hath not seen the shemesh, nor known any thing, this hath more nakhat (rest, quietness) than the other.
6 And though he goes on living a thousand years twice over and does not see good, are not the two going to the same place?
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Yea, though he live an elef shanim twice over, yet hath he seen no tovah. Do not all go to mekom echad?
7 All the work of man is for his mouth, and still he has a desire for food.
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All the amal (labor) of haAdam is for his mouth, and yet the nefesh is not satisfied.
8 What have the wise more than the foolish? and what has the poor man by walking wisely before the living?
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For what hath the chacham more than the kesil? What hath the poor man, who has da’as of how to conduct himself before the living?
9 What the eyes see is better than the wandering of desire. This is to no purpose and a desire for wind.
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Better what the eynayim see than the roving of the nefesh; this also is hevel and chasing after ruach.
10 That which is, has been named before, and of what man is there is knowledge. He has no power against one stronger than he.
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That which is, its shem hath already been named, and it is known what adam shall be; neither may he contend with what is stronger than he.
11 There are words without number for increasing what is to no purpose, but what is man profited by them?
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Seeing there be many things that increase hevel, what profit is there for adam?
12 Who is able to say what is good for man in life all the days of his foolish life which he goes through like a shade? who will say what is to be after him under the sun?
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For who has da’as what is tov for adam in this life, all the few days of his chayyei hevel which he spendeth as a shadow? For who can tell adam what shall be after him under the shemesh?
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.