Ecclesiastes 4:1–6:12
4 Then I returned and considered all the aoppression that is done under the sun:
And look! The tears of the oppressed,
But they have no comforter—
1On the side of their oppressors there is power,
But they have no comforter.
2 bTherefore I praised the dead who were already dead,
More than the living who are still alive.
3 cYet, better than both is he who has never existed,
Who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
4 Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
5 dThe fool folds his hands
And consumes his own flesh.
6 eBetter a handful with quietness
Than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind.
7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun:
8 There is one alone, without 2companion:
He has neither son nor brother.
Yet there is no end to all his labors,
Nor is his feye satisfied with riches.
But ghe never asks,
“For whom do I toil and deprive myself of hgood?”
This also is vanity and a 3grave misfortune.
9 Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
13 Better a poor and wise youth
Than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more.
14 For he comes out of prison to be king,
Although 4he was born poor in his kingdom.
15 I saw all the living who walk under the sun;
They were with the second youth who stands in his place.
16 There was no end of all the people 5over whom he was made king;
Yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in him.
Surely this also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
5 Walk aprudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather bthan to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.
2 Do not be crash with your mouth,
And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.
For God is in heaven, and you on earth;
Therefore let your words dbe few.
3 For a dream comes through much activity,
And ea fool’s voice is known by his many words.
4 fWhen you make a vow to God, do not delay to gpay it;
For He has no pleasure in fools.
Pay what you have vowed—
5 hBetter not to vow than to vow and not pay.
6 Do not let your imouth cause your flesh to sin, jnor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your 1excuse and destroy the work of your hands? 7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But kfear God.
8 If you lsee the oppression of the poor, and the violent 2perversion of justice and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter; for mhigh official watches over high official, and higher officials are over them.
9 Moreover the profit of the land is for all; even the king is served from the field.
10 He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver;
Nor he who loves abundance, with increase.
This also is vanity.
They increase who eat them;
So what profit have the owners
Except to see them with their eyes?
12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet,
Whether he eats little or much;
But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep.
13 nThere is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun:
Riches kept for their owner to his hurt.
14 But those riches perish through 3misfortune;
When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand.
15 oAs he came from his mother’s womb, naked shall he return,
To go as he came;
And he shall take nothing from his labor
Which he may carry away in his hand.
16 And this also is a severe evil—
Just exactly as he came, so shall he go.
And pwhat profit has he qwho has labored for the wind?
17 All his days rhe also eats in darkness,
And he has much sorrow and sickness and anger.
18 Here is what I have seen: sIt is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; tfor it is his 4heritage. 19 As for uevery man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his 5heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the vgift of God. 20 For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.
6 There ais an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: 2 A man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, bso that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires; cyet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity, and it is an evil 1affliction.
3 If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or dindeed he has no burial, I say that ea 2stillborn child is better than he—4 for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness. 5 Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man, 6 even if he lives a thousand years twice—but has not seen goodness. Do not all go to one fplace?
7 gAll the labor of man is for his mouth,
And yet the soul is not satisfied.
8 For what more has the wise man than the fool?
What does the poor man have,
Who knows how to walk before the living?
9 Better is 3the hsight of the eyes than the wandering of 4desire.
This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
10 Whatever one is, he has been named ialready,
For it is known that he is man;
jAnd he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he.
11 Since there are many things that increase vanity,
How is man the better?
12 For who knows what is good for man in life, 5all the days of his 6vain life which he passes like ka shadow? lWho can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun?