Parallel Bible results for "ecclesiastes 4"

Ecclesiastes 4

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?

English Standard Version ESV

1 Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them.

2 And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive.

3 But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

4 Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

5 The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh.

6 Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.

7 Again, I saw vanity under the sun:

8 one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, "For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?" This also is vanity and an unhappy business.

9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.

10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?

12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him--a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

13 Better was a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice.

14 For he went from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor.

15 I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that youth who was to stand in the king's place.

16 There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind.