Ecclesiastes 4

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

The narrator observes the oppression of the weeping powerless under the sun and concludes that the dead and the unborn are better off than the living. He also notes that human labor and achievements stem from envy between neighbors, while the fool ruins himself through idleness, and a single handful with peace is better than two handfuls gained through exhausting toil. Furthermore, he describes a solitary man who works endlessly without heirs or contentment, and contrasts him with the benefits of companionship, where two people support one another and a three-strand cord is hard to break. Finally, the text compares a wise poor youth who rises from prison to kingship with a foolish aging king who rejects warnings, noting that the multitudes follow the new ruler, though future generations will not celebrate him.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

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. 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.

Test this chapter

Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.