² And I declared that the dead,^(A)
    who had already died,
are happier than the living,
    who are still alive.^(B)
3 But better than both
    is the one who has never been born,^(C)
who has not seen the evil
    that is done under the sun.^(D)

¹¹ “Why did I not perish at birth,
    and die as I came from the womb?^(A)

¹⁶ Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,^(A)
    like an infant who never saw the light of day?^(B)