The .vj. Chapter.
The miserable estate of hym to whom God hath geuen riches, and not the grace to vse them.
[unspec A] 1 THere is yet a plague vnder the sunne, and it is a generall thyng a∣mong men: when God geueth a man riches, goodes, and honour, so that he wanteth no∣thyng of all that his heart can desire, and yet God geueth hym not leaue to enioy the same, but another man spen∣deth them: This is a vayne thyng and a miserable plague.
2 If a man beget a hundred children, and lyue many yeres, so that his dayes are many in number, and yet can not enioy his good, (a) 1.1 neither be buryed: as for hym I say, that vntymely birth is better then he.
3 For he commeth to naught, & spendeth his tyme in darknesse, and his name is forgotten.
4 Moreouer he seeth not the sunne, and knoweth not of it: and yet hath he more rest then the other.
5 Yea, though he lyued two thousande yeres, yet hath he no good lyfe: Come not all to one place?
6 (b) 1.2All the labour that a man taketh is for him “ 1.3 selfe, and yet his desire is neuer fylled after his mynde.
7 For what hath the wise more then the foole? What helpeth it the poore that (c) 1.4 he knoweth to walke with fooles before the lyuyng?
8 (d) 1.5The cleare syght of the eye is better then that the soule shoulde walke after desires of the lust: Howbeit, this is also a vayne thyng, and a disquietnesse of mynde.
9 The thyng that hath ben, is named