The Evil of Oppression

¹ Again 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. ² So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive. ³ But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.

⁴ I 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.

⁵ The fool folds^* his hands

and consumes his own flesh.

⁶ Better one handful with tranquility

than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind.

⁷ Again, I saw futility under the sun. ⁸ There 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.

⁹ Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. ¹⁰ For if one falls down, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up! ¹¹ Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone? ¹² And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

The Futility of Power

¹³ Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take a warning. ¹⁴ For the youth has come from the prison to the kingship, though he was born poor in his own kingdom.

¹⁵ I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed this second one, the youth who succeeded the king. ¹⁶ There 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.