Ecclesiastes 4
4
1Then I looked again at all the injustice that goes on in this world. The oppressed were weeping, and no one would help them. No one would help them, because their oppressors had power on their side. 2I envy those who are dead and gone; they are better off than those who are still alive. 3But better off than either are those who have never been born, who have never seen the injustice that goes on in this world.
4I have also learnt why people work so hard to succeed: it is because they envy their neighbours. But it is useless. It is like chasing the wind. 5They say that anyone would be a fool to fold his hands and let himself starve to death. 6Perhaps so, but it is better to have only a little, with peace of mind, than to be busy all the time with both hands, trying to catch the wind.
7I have noticed something else in life that is useless. 8Here is a man who lives alone. He has no son, no brother, yet he is always working, never satisfied with the wealth he has. For whom is he working so hard and denying himself any pleasure? This is useless, too — and a miserable way to live.
9Two are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively. 10If one of them falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone and falls, it's just too bad, because there is no one to help him. 11If it is cold, two can sleep together and stay warm, but how can you keep warm by yourself? 12Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone. A rope made of three cords is hard to break.
13-14A man may rise from poverty to become king of his country, or go from prison to the throne, but if in his old age he is too foolish to take advice, he is not as well off as a young man who is poor but intelligent. 15I thought about all the people who live in this world, and I realized that somewhere among them there is a young man who will take the king's place. 16There may be no limit to the number of people a king rules; when he is gone, no one will be grateful for what he has done. It is useless. It is like chasing the wind.
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Ecclesiastes 4
4
Vanity of Toil. 1Again I saw all the oppressions that take place under the sun: the tears of the victims with none to comfort#Oppressions…victims…none to comfort: the author obviously feels deeply about the plight of the oppressed, but he seems to feel powerless to do anything. The repetition of “none to comfort” is purposeful, and emphatic. them! From the hand of their oppressors comes violence, and there is none to comfort them!#Eccl 3:16; 5:7; 9:4–5. 2And those now dead, I declared more fortunate in death than are the living to be still alive.#Eccl 6:3–5. 3And better off than both is the yet unborn, who has not seen the wicked work that is done under the sun. 4Then I saw that all toil and skillful work is the rivalry of one person with another. This also is vanity and a chase after wind.
5“Fools fold their arms
and consume their own flesh”—#Consume their own flesh: an enigmatic statement. In the context of vv. 4 and 6 it seems to warn that those who refuse to work for the necessities of life will suffer hunger and impair their bodily health. But the verse could also be intended for the industrious: Even the lazy may manage to have “their own flesh,” that is, have sufficient food to eat.
6Better is one handful with tranquility
than two with toil and a chase after wind!
Companions and Successors. 7Again I saw this vanity under the sun: 8those all alone with no companion, with neither child nor sibling—with no end to all their toil, and no satisfaction from riches. For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good things? This also is vanity and a bad business. 9Two are better than one: They get a good wage for their toil. 10If the one falls, the other will help the fallen one. But woe to the solitary person! If that one should fall, there is no other to help. 11So also, if two sleep together, they keep each other warm. How can one alone keep warm? 12Where one alone may be overcome, two together can resist. A three-ply cord#A three-ply cord: an ancient proverb known centuries before biblical times. The progression (“two together…three-ply”) seems to imply, “If two are good, three are even better.” is not easily broken.
13#This passage deals with kingship and succession, but is obscure. Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows caution; 14for from a prison house he came forth to reign; despite his kingship he was born poor. 15I saw all the living, those who move about under the sun, with the second youth who will succeed him.#The king is no sooner dead than the people transfer their allegiance to his successor. 16There is no end to all this people, to all who were before them; yet the later generations will not have joy in him. This also is vanity and a chase after wind.
Vanity of Many Words. 17#1 Sm 15:22; Ps 40:7–9; Prv 15:8; 21:3; Hos 6:6. Guard your step when you go to the house of God.#The house of God: the Temple in Jerusalem. Obedience…sacrifice: the Temple was the place not only for sacrifice but also for instruction in the Law. Sacrifice without obedience was unacceptable; cf. 1 Sm 15:22; Hos 6:6. Draw near for obedience, rather than for the fools’ offering of sacrifice; for they know not how to keep from doing evil.
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