Open Bible Data Home About News OET Key
OET OET-RV ULT UST BSB OEB WEB NET TCNT T4T LEB RV KJB Related Parallel Interlinear Dictionary Search
OEB By Document By Section By Chapter Details
OEB FRT GEN JOS RUTH 1SA 2SA 1KI NEH EST JOB PSA PRO ECC SNG ISA JER LAM EZE DAN HOS JOEL AMOS OBA YNA MIC NAH HAB ZEP HAG ZEC MAL MAT MARK LUKE YHN ACTs ROM 1COR 2COR GAL EPH PHP COL 1TH 2TH 1TIM 2TIM TIT PHM HEB YAC 1PET 2PET 1YHN 2YHN 3YHN YUD REV
ECC C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12
4 Once more, I considered all the oppression that goes on under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, who have no one to comfort them– power brutally wielded by the oppressors, and not 2 a soul to comfort them. Happy, thought I, were the dead who are already dead rather than the 3 living who are still alive; but happier than either the creature that has never been born, to look upon the evil work that goes on under the sun.
The Taint of Jealousy
4 Then I observed that all the laborious and skilful work of men has its origin and issue in their jealousy of one another. Here is another illusion and a chasing of the wind.
The Wisdom of Unambitious Quiet
5 The fool foldeth his hands,
And his own flesh he devoureth.
6 Better a single handful of quiet,
And a chasing of the wind.
The Futility and Misery of Loneliness
7 Here is another of the illusions that I have 8 observed under the sun. Take, for example, a lonely man, with no one by his side – he has neither son nor brother: yet he toils on endlessly; his eye can never see money enough. "And yet, whom am I toiling for, and beggaring myself to happi- ness? "Here is another illusion, a sorry business indeed.
9 Two are better than one, for their toil is happily 10 rewarded. If, for example, one should fall, his comrade helps him to his feet: but woe betide the 11 man who falls, with nobody to help him up. Again, if two lie together, they get warm: but how can a man 12 get warm by himself? Again, while a solitary man may be overpowered, two can stand up to an assailant; while a cord that has three strands is not lightly snapped.
The Futility of Wisdom – An illustration
13 A Young man that is poor but wise is better than a foolish old king who can no longer take a warning. 14 There was one such who passed from prison to the throne, though in the (old king’s) reign he had been 15 born poor; and I obseved that every man alive that walketh under the sun supported his youthful 16 successor. Endless were the people who looked up to him as leader; and yet in later years their enthusiasm for him had vanished. Here is another illusion and a chasing of the wind.
Warnings against Insincerity and Rashness in the Discharge of Religious Duties