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1Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the sun:
And look! The tears of the oppressed,
But they have no comforter—
4:1 Lit. At the handOn the side of their oppressors there is power,
But they have no comforter.
2Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead,
More than the living who are still alive.
3Yet, 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.
5The fool folds his hands
And consumes his own flesh.
6Better 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 4:8 Lit. a secondcompanion:
He has neither son nor brother.
Yet there is no end to all his labors,
Nor is his eye satisfied with riches.
But he never asks,
“For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good?”
This also is vanity and a 4:8 Lit. evil taskgrave 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 4:14 The youthhe 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 4:16 Lit. to all before whom he was to beover 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.
New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.