Ecclesiastes 4 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Ecc 4:1

Ecc 4:1Again, I observed all the oppression that takes place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless.

Ecc 4:2

Ecc 4:2So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living.

Ecc 4:3

Ecc 4:3But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born. For they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun.

Ecc 4:4

Ecc 4:4Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

Ecc 4:5

Ecc 4:5“Fools fold their idle hands,
leading them to ruin.”

Ecc 4:6

Ecc 4:6And yet,
“Better to have one handful with quietness
than two handfuls with hard work
and chasing the wind.”

The Advantages of Companionship

Ecc 4:7

Ecc 4:7I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun.

Ecc 4:8

Ecc 4:8This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing.

Ecc 4:9

Ecc 4:9Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.

Ecc 4:10

Ecc 4:10If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.

Ecc 4:11

Ecc 4:11Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone?

Ecc 4:12

Ecc 4:12A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

The Futility of Political Power

Ecc 4:13

Ecc 4:13It is better to be a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king who refuses all advice.

Ecc 4:14

Ecc 4:14Such a youth could rise from poverty and succeed. He might even become king, though he has been in prison.

Ecc 4:15

Ecc 4:15But then everyone rushes to the side of yet another youth[fn] who replaces him.

Ecc 4:16

Ecc 4:16Endless crowds stand around him,[fn] but then another generation grows up and rejects him, too. So it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.

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NLT Footnotes

(4:15)

Hebrew the second youth.

(4:16)

Hebrew There is no end to all the people, to all those who are before them.

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