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Ecclesiastes 4

4 Next, as I continued to contemplate, I observed all the various ways in which people suffer from oppression during their lives. Now, pay attention! As I watched those people cry, I realized that no one was there to reassure them or advocate for them in their grief. Furthermore, those who oppressed them appeared to possess an unequal amount of power, such that no one was able to help them overcome the grief that they experienced in their suffering. 2 This sad reality made me feel like those people who have already died are much more fortunate than the people who remain alive. 3 Yet, the people whose mothers have not yet given birth to them are even more fortunate than both people currently alive and those people who have already died. Indeed, the unborn have not yet had to experience or witness any of the evil and lamentable actions that humans do during their lives.

4 Then, I observed that people work as hard as they do and strive to be successful only because they are jealous of their friends' lifestyles and possessions. Yet, even their ill-motivated labor is as fleeting and insubstantial as the fading mist of my breath, and as silly and futile as trying to grab a handful of the wind. 5 It is just like people say:

Rather than work hard, foolish people merely relax

with their unproductive hands folded on their laps, ready to eat their meal.

Yet, as they do so, they unwittingly ruin themselves,

as if they were feasting on their own bodies!

6 People also say this:

“Despite appearances, being contented with a simple, peaceful lifestyle is twice as good

as being rich, but living a life of stressful labor—as silly and frustrating as trying to grab a handful of the wind.”

7 I proceeded to contemplate another facet of people’s lives—one that also seemed as fleeting and insubstantial as the fading mist of my breath. 8 I saw someone who lived alone. He appeared to have no family—no children, nor any brothers or sisters lived with him. And, every day, the lonely person labored without stopping. Even though he was very wealthy, he never felt fully satisfied with his lavish life and all the things that he possessed. Then, he asked himself, “Why am I allowing my hard work to deprive me of things that I enjoy?” His attempts to satisfy himself with a lavish lifestyle were as fleeting and insubstantial as the fading mist of my breath. His joyless labor was really the most lamentable part of the difficult job of being alive, in which God has employed humanity.

9 Having a friend is more advantageous than living one’s life alone.

After all, together, two people can experience better outcomes in their hard work.

10 First, if you were to fall down, a friend could help you get up again.

But, if you are alone and you fall down,

you will only experience hardship and pain,

because no one will be there to help you stand up again.

11 Second, if you and a friend were to lie down to sleep in the cold,

you could help one another stay warm.

But if you try to sleep in the cold alone,

of course, you will be cold!

12 Third, if someone stronger than you were to attack you,

he might beat you up by yourself.

However, you and your friend would be able to ward off your attacker together!

Three people could defend themselves even more easily,

just like a rope that someone made from three strands

is harder to rip in half than a rope with one or two strands.

13 It is preferable to be a poor young man who nonetheless acts wisely than to be a king who, despite his age, acts like a fool and refuses to pay attention when people try to give him good advice, as he did when he was younger. 14 I imagine that it is possible for a young man like that to live so successfully that he becomes king—even ruling over the land in which his mother gave birth to him in poverty, so severe that it was like someone tying her up with ropes. 15 But then I imagine all of the people in this young man’s kingdom, who merely go about their lives. The person who will be the successor to the young king is among them. 16 Despite his current popularity with the endless crowds of his subjects, after a few years, future generations will be tired of him, too. So, in the end, even the wise way he lived that led to his success as king is as fleeting and insubstantial as the fading mist of my breath, and as silly and frustrating as trying to grab a handful of the wind.

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