Parallel Bible results for "ecclesiastes 4"

Ecclesiastes 4

New Living Translation NLT

1 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 concluded that the dead are better off than the living.

3 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 that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

5 “Fools fold their idle hands, leading them to ruin.”

6 And yet, “Better to have one handful with quietness than two handfuls with hard work and chasing the wind.”

7 I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun.

8 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 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.

10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.

11 Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone?

12 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 It is better to be a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king who refuses all advice.

14 Such a youth could rise from poverty and succeed. He might even become king, though he has been in prison.

15 But then everyone rushes to the side of yet another youth who replaces him.

16 Endless crowds stand around him, but then another generation grows up and rejects him, too. So it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.

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.