3. If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years so that the days of his years are many, but his life is not filled with good, and also he is given no burial [honors nor is laid to rest in the sepulcher of his fathers], I say that [he who had] an untimely birth [resulting in death] is better off than he, [Job 3:16.]
4. For [the untimely one] comes in futility and goes into darkness, and in darkness his name is covered.
5. Moreover, he has not seen the sun nor had any knowledge, yet he [the stillborn child] has rest rather than he [who is aware of all that he has missed and all that he would not have had to suffer].
6. Even though he lives a thousand years twice over and yet has seen no good and experienced no enjoyment–do not all go to one place [the place of the dead]?
7. All the labor of man is for his mouth [for self-preservation and enjoyment], and yet his desire is not satisfied. [Prov. 16:26.]
8. For what advantage has the wise man over the fool [being worldly-wise is not the secret to happiness]? What advantage has the poor man who has learned how to walk before the living [publicly, with men's eyes upon him; being poor is not the secret to happiness either]?
9. Better is the sight of the eyes [the enjoyment of what is available to one] than the cravings of wandering desire. This is also vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility) and a striving after the wind and a feeding on it!
10. Whatever [man] is, he has been named that long ago, and it is known that it is man [Adam]; nor can he contend with Him who is mightier than he [whether God or death].