Parallel Bible results for "ecclesiastes 4"

Ecclesiastes 4

The Complete Jewish Bible CJB

1 But I turned away and thought about all the kinds of oppression being done under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them. The power was on the side of their oppressors, and they had no one to comfort them.

2 So I considered the dead happier, because they were already dead, than the living, who must still live their lives;

3 but happier than either of them is the one who has not yet been born, because he has not yet seen the evil things that are done under the sun.

4 Next I realized that all effort and achievement stem from one person's envy of another. This too is futility and feeding on wind.

5 Fools fold their arms together and eat their own flesh away.

6 Better an armload with tranquillity than both arms full of effort and feeding on wind.

7 Then I turned my attention to something else under the sun that is pointless:

8 the situation in which a solitary individual without a companion, with neither son nor brother, keeps on working endlessly but never has enough wealth. "For whom" [he should ask], "am I working so hard and denying myself pleasure?"This too is truly pointless, a sorry business.

9 Two are better than one, in that their cooperative efforts yield this advantage:

10 if one of them falls, the other will help his partner up - woe to him who is alone when he falls and has no one to help him up.

11 Again, if two people sleep together, they keep each other warm; but how can one person be warm by himself?

12 Moreover, an attacker may defeat someone who is alone, but two can resist him; and a three-stranded cord is not easily broken.

13 Better a youth who is poor but wise than a king who is old but foolish, no longer willing to listen to advice.

14 True, he rose from prison to be king; yet, while ruling, he became poor.

15 I observed that all who live and walk under the sun took the side of the youth mentioned first who would rule in place of the king,

16 and that no limit was set for the number of his subjects. Nevertheless, those who come afterwards will not regard him highly. This too is certainly pointless and feeding on wind.

The Message Bible MSG

1 Next I turned my attention to all the outrageous violence that takes place on this planet - the tears of the victims, no one to comfort them; the iron grip of oppressors, no one to rescue the victims from them.

2 So I congratulated the dead who are already dead instead of the living who are still alive.

3 But luckier than the dead or the living is the person who has never even been, who has never seen the bad business that takes place on this earth.

4 Then I observed all the work and ambition motivated by envy. What a waste! Smoke. And spitting into the wind.

5 The fool sits back and takes it easy, His sloth is slow suicide.

6 One handful of peaceful repose Is better than two fistfuls of worried work - More spitting into the wind.

7 I turned my head and saw yet another wisp of smoke on its way to nothingness:

8 a solitary person, completely alone - no children, no family, no friends - yet working obsessively late into the night, compulsively greedy for more and more, never bothering to ask, "Why am I working like a dog, never having any fun? And who cares?" More smoke. A bad business.

9 It's better to have a partner than go it alone. Share the work, share the wealth.

10 And if one falls down, the other helps, But if there's no one to help, tough!

11 Two in a bed warm each other. Alone, you shiver all night.

12 By yourself you're unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn't easily snapped.

13 A poor youngster with some wisdom is better off than an old but foolish king who doesn't know which end is up.

14 I saw a youth just like this start with nothing and go from rags to riches,

15 and I saw everyone rally to the rule of this young successor to the king.

16 Even so, the excitement died quickly, the throngs of people soon lost interest. Can't you see it's only smoke? And spitting into the wind?