Ecclesiastes 4:1–8:1

Again, I observed all the acts of oppression being done under the sun.^m Look at the tears of those who are oppressed; they have no one to comfort them. Power is with those who oppress them; they have no one to comfort them. ²So I commended the dead,ⁿ who have already died, more than the living, who are still alive. ³But better than either of them is the one who has not yet existed,^o who has not seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

THE LONELINESS OF WEALTH

⁴I saw that all labor and all skillful work is due to one person’s jealousy of another.^p This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.^q

⁵The fool folds his arms^r

and consumes his own flesh.^s

⁶Better one handful with rest

than two handfuls with effort and a pursuit of the wind.^t

⁷Again, I saw futility under the sun: ⁸There is a person without a companion,^D without even a son or brother, and though there is no end to all his struggles, his eyes are still not content with riches.^u “Who am I struggling for,” he asks, “and depriving myself of good things?” This too is futile and a miserable task.

⁹Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. ¹⁰For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up. ¹¹Also, if two lie down together, they can keep warm; but how can one person alone keep warm?^{v 12}And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.

¹³Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer pays attention to warnings.^{w 14}For he came from prison to be king,^x even though he was born poor in his kingdom. ¹⁵I saw all the living, who move about under the sun, follow^A a second youth who succeeds him. ¹⁶There is no limit to all the people who were before them, yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.^y

CAUTION IN GOD’S PRESENCE

5Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Better to approach in obedience than to offer the sacrifice as fools do,^z for they ignorantly do wrong. ²Do not be hasty to speak, and do not be impulsive to make a speech before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.^{aa 3}Just as dreams accompany much labor, so also a fool’s voice comes with many words.^{ab 4}When you make a vow to God,^ac don’t delay fulfilling it, because he does not delight in fools. Fulfill what you vow. ⁵Better that you do not vow than that you vow and not fulfill it.^{ad 6}Do not let your mouth bring guilt on you,^ae and do not say in the presence of the messenger that it was a mistake.^af Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands? ⁷For many dreams bring futility; so do many words.^ag Therefore, fear God.

THE REALITIES OF WEALTH

⁸If you see oppression of the poor^a and perversion of justice and righteousness in the province, don’t be astonished at the situation,^b because one official protects another official, and higher officials protect them. ⁹The profit from the land is taken by all; the king is served by the field.^Bc

¹⁰The one who loves silver is never satisfied with silver, and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with income. This too is futile. ¹¹When good things increase, the ones who consume them multiply; what, then, is the profit to the owner, except to gaze at them with his eyes? ¹²The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich permits him no sleep.

¹³There is a sickening tragedy I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.^{d 14}That wealth was lost in a bad venture, so when he fathered a son, he was empty-handed. ¹⁵As he came from his mother’s womb, so he will go again, naked as he came;^e he will take nothing for his efforts that he can carry in his hands. ¹⁶This too is a sickening tragedy: exactly as he comes, so he will go. What does the one gain^f who struggles for the wind?^{g 17}What is more, he eats in darkness all his days,^h with much frustration, sickness, and anger.

¹⁸Here is what I have seen to be good:ⁱ It is appropriate to eat, drink, and experience good in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of his life God has given him, because that is his reward.^{j 19}Furthermore, everyone to whom God has given riches and wealth,^k he has also allowed him to enjoy them, take his reward, and rejoice in his labor.^l This is a gift of God,^{m 20}for he does not often consider the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.

6Here is a tragedy I have observed under the sun,ⁿ and it weighs heavily on humanity:^{C 2}God gives a person riches, wealth, and honor^o so that he lacks nothing of all he desires for himself,^p but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a sickening tragedy. ³A man may father a hundred children and live many years. No matter how long he lives,^A if he is not satisfied by good things and does not even have a proper burial,^q I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.^{r 4}For he comes in futility and he goes in darkness, and his name is shrouded in darkness. ⁵Though a stillborn child does not see the sun and is not conscious, it has more rest than he. ⁶And if a person lives a thousand years twice, but does not experience happiness, do not both go to the same place?

⁷All of a person’s labor is for his stomach,^Bs

yet the appetite is never satisfied.

⁸What advantage then does the wise person have over the fool?^t What advantage is there for the poor person who knows how to conduct himself before others? ⁹Better what the eyes see than wandering desire.^u This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.^Cv

¹⁰Whatever exists was given its name long ago,^Dw and it is known what mankind is. But he is not able to contend with the one stronger than he.^{x 11}For when there are many words, they increase futility.^y What is the advantage for mankind? ¹²For who knows what is good for anyone in life, in the few days of his futile life that he spends like a shadow?^z Who can tell anyone what will happen after him under the sun?

WISE SAYINGS

7A good name is better than fine perfume,^aa

and the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.^ab

²It is better to go to a house of mourning

than to go to a house of feasting,

since that is the end of all mankind,

and the living should take it to heart.^ac

³Grief is better than laughter,

for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad.^ad

⁴The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning,

but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure.

⁵It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person

than to listen to the song of fools,^ae

⁶for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot,^af

so is the laughter of the fool.

This too is futile.

⁷Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool,^a

and a bribe corrupts the mind.^b

⁸The end of a matter is better than its beginning;

a patient spirit is better than a proud spirit.^c

⁹Don’t let your spirit rush to be angry,

for anger abides in the heart of fools.^d

¹⁰Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these?”^e

since it is not wise of you to ask this.

¹¹Wisdom is as good as an inheritance

and an advantage to those who see the sun,

¹²because wisdom is protection as silver is protection;

but the advantage of knowledge

is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.^f

¹³Consider the work of God,^g

for who can straighten out

what he has made crooked?^h

¹⁴In the day of prosperity be joyful,ⁱ but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other,^j so that no one can discover anything that will come after him.

AVOIDING EXTREMES

¹⁵In my futile life^A I have seen everything:^k someone righteous perishes in spite of his righteousness,^l and someone wicked lives long in spite of his evil.^{m 16}Don’t be excessively righteous, and don’t be overly wise.ⁿ Why should you destroy yourself? ¹⁷Don’t be excessively wicked, and don’t be foolish. Why should you die before your time?^{o 18}It is good that you grasp the one and do not let the other slip from your hand. For the one who fears God will end up with both of them.

¹⁹Wisdom makes the wise person stronger

than ten rulers of a city.^p

²⁰There is certainly no one righteous on the earth

who does good and never sins.^q

²¹Don’t pay attention^B to everything people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you,^{r 22}for in your heart you know that many times you yourself have cursed others.

WHAT THE TEACHER FOUND

²³I have tested all this by wisdom. I resolved, “I will be wise,” but it was beyond me. ²⁴What exists is beyond reach and very deep.^s Who can discover it? ²⁵I turned my thoughts to know, explore, and examine wisdom^t and an explanation for things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity and folly is madness. ²⁶And I find more bitter than death^u the woman who is a trap:^v her heart a net and her hands chains. The one who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be captured by her. ²⁷“Look,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find out the explanation, ²⁸which my soul continually searches for but does not find: I found one person in a thousand, but none of those was a woman.^{w 29}Only see this: I have discovered that God made people upright,^x but they pursued many schemes.”

WISDOM, AUTHORITIES, AND INEQUITIES

8Who is like the wise person, and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A person’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.^y