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EcclesiastesChapter 4

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Again I looked and saw all the oppression that goes on under the sun. Look at the tears of the oppressed—and no one to comfort them. Power was in the hand of their oppressors—and no one to comfort them.
So I called the dead, who have already died, more fortunate than the living, who are still alive.
But better off than either is the one who has never been born, who has never seen the evil that is done under the sun.
And I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from one person's envy of another. This too is vanity, a chasing after the wind.
The fool folds his hands and devours his own flesh.
Better a handful with quiet rest than two fists full of toil and a chasing after the wind.
Again I looked, and I saw something futile under the sun:
a man all alone, with no one beside him—no son, no brother—yet there is no end to his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with wealth. "For whom am I working so hard," he asks, "and denying myself every good thing?" This too is vanity, a wretched business.
Two are better than one, because together they have a good reward for their labor.
If one of them falls, the other can lift him up. But pity the one who falls alone, with no one to lift him up.
And if two lie down together, they keep warm; but how can one stay warm alone?
Though someone may overpower one alone, two can stand against him. And a cord of three strands is not easily broken.
Better a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to take warning.
For the youth came out of prison to reign, though he was born poor in that very kingdom.
I saw that all the living who move about under the sun sided with the young successor who took the king's place.
There was no end to the people, to all those he led. Yet those who come after will take no delight in him. This too is vanity, a chasing after the wind.
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not even know that they are doing wrong.
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