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People Need Balance in Their Approach to Labor
4 I also realized that all of the toil and all of the skillful work that is done—it is envy between one man and ⌊another⌋.b This also is vanity and chasing wind!
5 ⌊The fool refuses to work with his hands,
so he has nothing to eat except his own skin⌋!c
6 Better is one handful with peace
than two fists full with toil and chasing wind.
Wealth without Someone with Which to Enjoy It is Futile
7 I turned again and saw another vanity under the sun. 8 Sometimes a man is all alone with no companion; he also has neither son nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eye is not satisfied with wealth. He laments, “For whom am I toiling and depriving ⌊myself⌋d of pleasure?” This also is vanity—it is an unhappy business!
b | Literally “his friend” |
c | Literally “The fool folds his hands and eats his flesh” |
d | Literally “his soul” |
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