The Evil of Oppression 1 UDB I thought some more about all the suffering that people are made to experience on the earth. I thought about the tears of people who were oppressed and who had no one to comfort them. Those who oppress them have power, and there is no one able to comfort the oppressed. BSB BSB: 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 UDB So I thought that those who are already dead are more fortunate than those who are still alive. BSB BSB: So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive.
3 UDB And those who have not yet been born are even more fortunate than those two kinds of people, because those who have not been born have not seen all the evil things that are done on the earth. BSB BSB: But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.
4 UDB I also thought about all the hard work that people do and the things they are able to accomplish. And I thought about how someone who works hard sometimes makes his neighbor jealous. I decided that this also is something that is not accomplishing anything useful. It is like trying to control the wind. BSB BSB: 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 UDB Foolish people refuse to work. They sit idly with their hands folded and do not work. So they ruin themselves. BSB BSB: The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh.
6 UDB So some say, "It is better to be content with working quietly for a little bit of money, than to work anxiously and try to get a lot of money, which is as useless as trying to control the wind." BSB BSB: Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind.
7 UDB I thought about something else that happens on the earth that seems useless. BSB BSB: Again, I saw futility under the sun.
8 UDB There are people who live alone; they do not have a family nor even children or any brothers or sisters living with them. Every day they work very hard without stopping; they make a lot of money, but they are never satisfied with the things that they get. They ask themselves, "Why am I working so hard; whom am I actually helping? Why am I not doing things that I would enjoy doing? What I have been doing seems useless." This is very bad. BSB BSB: 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 UDB Having someone work with you is better than being by yourself all the time. If you have a friend, he can help you to do your work. BSB BSB: Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.
10 UDB If you fall down, he can help you get up again. But if you fall down when you are alone, you will have trouble, because there is no one to help you stand up. BSB BSB: For if one falls down, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up!
11 UDB Similarly, if two people lie down together, they can help each other to remain warm. But someone who sleeps alone will certainly not be warm. BSB BSB: Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone?
12 UDB Someone who is alone can easily be attacked and defeated by another person, but two people can help each other and resist someone who attacks them. Three people can defend themselves even more easily, like a rope that is made from three cords is harder to break than a rope made from two cords. BSB BSB: And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
The Futility of Power 13 UDB A young man who is poor but wise is a better person than a foolish old king who refuses to pay attention when people try to give him good advice. BSB BSB: Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take a warning.
14 UDB It is possible for a young man like that to succeed and become a king, even if his parents were poor or even if he was in prison in the past. BSB BSB: For the youth has come from the prison to the kingship, though he was born poor in his own kingdom.
15 UDB But then some other young man becomes king, and everyone starts to support him. BSB BSB: I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed this second one, the youth who succeeded the king.
16 UDB Large crowds of people crowd around him. But after a few years, they will be tired of him, too. So it is all senseless, like trying to control the wind. BSB BSB: 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.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.