Ecclesiastes 4:1-10 ▼

1 Again, I observed all the acts of oppression being done under the sun. 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.

2 So I commended the dead, who have already died, more than the living, who are still alive.

3 But better than either of them is the one who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

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

5 The fool folds his arms and consumes his own flesh.

6 Better one handful with rest than two handfuls with effort and a pursuit of the wind.

7 Again, I saw futility under the sun:

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

9 Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts.

10 For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up.