Ecclesiastes 4:1–8:1

4Then 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.

^2bTherefore I praised the dead who were already dead,

More than the living who are still alive.

^3cYet, better than both is he who has never existed,

Who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

The Vanity of Selfish Toil

⁴Again, 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.

^5dThe fool folds his hands

And consumes his own flesh.

^6eBetter a handful with quietness

Than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind.

⁷Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun:

⁸There 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.

The Value of a Friend

⁹Two are better than one,

Because they have a good reward for their labor.

¹⁰For 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.

¹¹Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;

But how can one be warm alone?

¹²Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.

And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Popularity Passes Away

¹³Better a poor and wise youth

Than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more.

¹⁴For he comes out of prison to be king,

Although ⁴he was born poor in his kingdom.

¹⁵I saw all the living who walk under the sun;

They were with the second youth who stands in his place.

¹⁶There 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.

Fear God, Keep Your Vows

5Walk ^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.

²Do 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.

³For a dream comes through much activity,

And ^ea fool’s voice is known by his many words.

^4fWhen you make a vow to God, do not delay to ^gpay it;

For He has no pleasure in fools.

Pay what you have vowed—

^5hBetter not to vow than to vow and not pay.

⁶Do 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? ⁷For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But ^kfear God.

The Vanity of Gain and Honor

⁸If 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.

⁹Moreover the profit of the land is for all; even the king is served from the field.

¹⁰He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver;

Nor he who loves abundance, with increase.

This also is vanity.

¹¹When goods increase,

They increase who eat them;

So what profit have the owners

Except to see them with their eyes?

¹²The 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.

¹³ⁿThere is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun:

Riches kept for their owner to his hurt.

¹⁴But those riches perish through ³misfortune;

When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand.

^15oAs 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.

¹⁶And 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?

¹⁷All his days ^rhe also eats in darkness,

And he has much sorrow and sickness and anger.

¹⁸Here 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. ¹⁹As 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. ²⁰For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.

6There ^ais an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: ²A 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.

³If 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—⁴for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness. ⁵Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man, ⁶even if he lives a thousand years twice—but has not seen goodness. Do not all go to one ^fplace?

^7gAll the labor of man is for his mouth,

And yet the soul is not satisfied.

⁸For what more has the wise man than the fool?

What does the poor man have,

Who knows how to walk before the living?

⁹Better is ³the ^hsight of the eyes than the wandering of ⁴desire.

This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

¹⁰Whatever 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.

¹¹Since there are many things that increase vanity,

How is man the better?

¹²For 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?

The Value of Practical Wisdom

7A ^agood name is better than precious ointment,

And the day of death than the day of one’s ^bbirth;

²Better to go to the house of mourning

Than to go to the house of feasting,

For that is the end of all men;

And the living will take it to ^cheart.

³¹Sorrow is better than laughter,

^dFor by a sad countenance the heart is made ²better.

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

But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

^5eIt is better to ³hear the rebuke of the wise

Than for a man to hear the song of fools.

^6fFor like the ⁴crackling of thorns under a pot,

So is the laughter of the fool.

This also is vanity.

⁷Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason,

^gAnd a bribe ⁵debases the heart.

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

^hThe patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

⁹ⁱDo not hasten in your spirit to be angry,

For anger rests in the bosom of fools.

¹⁰Do not say,

“Why were the former days better than these?”

For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.

¹¹Wisdom is good with an inheritance,

And profitable ^jto those who see the sun.

¹²For wisdom is ⁶a ^kdefense as money is a defense,

But the ⁷excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives ^llife to those who have it.

¹³Consider the work of God;

For ^mwho can make straight what He has made crooked?

¹⁴ⁿIn the day of prosperity be joyful,

But in the day of adversity consider:

Surely God has appointed the one ⁸as well as the other,

So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.

¹⁵I have seen everything in my days of vanity:

^oThere is a just man who perishes in his righteousness,

And there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.

^16pDo not be overly righteous,

^qNor be overly wise:

Why should you destroy yourself?

¹⁷Do not be overly wicked,

Nor be foolish:

^rWhy should you die before your time?

¹⁸It is good that you grasp this,

And also not remove your hand from the other;

For he who ^sfears God will ⁹escape them all.

^19tWisdom strengthens the wise

More than ten rulers of the city.

^20uFor there is not a just man on earth who does good

And does not sin.

²¹Also do not take to heart everything people say,

Lest you hear your servant cursing you.

²²For many times, also, your own heart has known

That even you have cursed others.

²³All this I have ¹proved by wisdom.

^vI said, “I will be wise”;

But it was far from me.

^24wAs for that which is far off and ^xexceedingly deep,

Who can find it out?

^25yI applied my heart to know,

To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things,

To know the wickedness of folly,

Even of foolishness and madness.

^26zAnd I find more bitter than death

The woman whose heart is snares and nets,

Whose hands are fetters.

²He who pleases God shall escape from her,

But the sinner shall be trapped by her.

²⁷“Here is what I have found,” says ^athe Preacher,

“Adding one thing to the other to find out the reason,

²⁸Which my soul still seeks but I cannot find:

^bOne man among a thousand I have found,

But a woman among all these I have not found.

²⁹Truly, this only I have found:

^cThat God made man upright,

But ^dthey have sought out many schemes.”

8Who is like a wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing?

^aA man’s wisdom makes his face shine,

And ^bthe ¹sternness of his face is changed.