The Message Bible MSG
New Living Translation NLT
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.
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Again, I observed all the oppression that takes place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless.
2 So I congratulated the dead who are already dead instead of the living who are still alive.
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So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living.
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.
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But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born. For they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun.
4 Then I observed all the work and ambition motivated by envy. What a waste! Smoke. And spitting into the wind.
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Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
5 The fool sits back and takes it easy, His sloth is slow suicide.
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“Fools fold their idle hands, leading them to ruin.”
6 One handful of peaceful repose Is better than two fistfuls of worried work - More spitting into the wind.
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And yet, “Better to have one handful with quietness than two handfuls with hard work and chasing the wind.”
7 I turned my head and saw yet another wisp of smoke on its way to nothingness:
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I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun.
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.
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This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing.
9 It's better to have a partner than go it alone. Share the work, share the wealth.
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Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.
10 And if one falls down, the other helps, But if there's no one to help, tough!
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If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.
11 Two in a bed warm each other. Alone, you shiver all night.
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Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone?
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.
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A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
13 A poor youngster with some wisdom is better off than an old but foolish king who doesn't know which end is up.
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It is better to be a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king who refuses all advice.
14 I saw a youth just like this start with nothing and go from rags to riches,
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Such a youth could rise from poverty and succeed. He might even become king, though he has been in prison.
15 and I saw everyone rally to the rule of this young successor to the king.
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But then everyone rushes to the side of yet another youth who replaces him.
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?
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Endless crowds stand around him, but then another generation grows up and rejects him, too. So it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.