41 lines
1.9 KiB
Markdown
41 lines
1.9 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 4
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1 Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the sun:
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And look! The tears of the oppressed,
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But they have no comforter—
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On the side of their oppressors there is power,
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But they have no comforter.
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2 Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead,
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More than the living who are still alive.
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3 Yet, better than both is he who has never existed,
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Who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
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4 Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
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5 The fool folds his hands
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And consumes his own flesh.
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6 Better a handful with quietness
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Than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind.
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7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun:
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8 There is one alone, without companion:
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He has neither son nor brother.
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Yet there is no end to all his labors,
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Nor is his eye satisfied with riches.
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But he never asks,
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“For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good?”
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This also is vanity and a grave misfortune.
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9 Two are better than one,
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Because they have a good reward for their labor.
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10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
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But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
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For he has no one to help him up.
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11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
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But how can one be warm alone?
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12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
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And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
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13 Better a poor and wise youth
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Than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more.
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14 For he comes out of prison to be king,
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Although he was born poor in his kingdom.
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15 I saw all the living who walk under the sun;
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They were with the second youth who stands in his place.
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16 There was no end of all the people over whom he was made king;
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Yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in him.
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Surely this also is vanity and grasping for the wind. |