Ecclesiastes 4:1-10 ▼

1 Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun. And behold, I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them.

2 So I lauded the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living.

3 But better off than both of them is the one who never has been, who has never seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

4 I have seen that every labor and every success of the work is the result of jealousy between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind.

5 The fool folds his hands in embrace and consumes his own flesh.

6 One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.

7 Then I looked again at vanity under the sun.

8 There was a certain man without a second man, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches—“And for whom am I laboring and depriving myself of good?” This too is vanity, and it is a grievous endeavor.

9 Two are better than one because they have good wages for their labor.

10 For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not a second one to lift him up.