² So I congratulated and thought more fortunate are those who are already dead than the living who are still living. ³ But better off than either of them is the one who has not yet been born, who has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

⁴ I have seen that every [effort in] labor and every skill in work comes from man’s rivalry with his neighbor. This too is vanity (futility, false pride) and chasing after the wind.