Ecclesiastes 4 · Clearspring

The Evil of Oppression

¹Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.+ ²So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive.+ ³But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.+ ⁴I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.+ ⁵The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh.+ ⁶Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind.+ ⁷Again, I saw futility under the sun.+ ⁸There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile — a miserable task.+ ⁹Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.+ ¹⁰For if one falls down, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up!+ ¹¹Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone?+ ¹²And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.+

The Futility of Power

¹³Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take a warning.+ ¹⁴For the youth has come from the prison to the kingship, though he was born poor in his own kingdom.+ ¹⁵I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed this second one, the youth who succeeded the king.+ ¹⁶There is no limit to all the people who were before them. Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.+

The Evil of Oppression

The Futility of Power

Study Ecclesiastes 4