Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun:

There is one alone, without [a]companion:
He has neither son nor brother.
Yet there is no end to all his labors,
Nor is his (A)eye satisfied with riches.
But (B)he never asks,
“For whom do I toil and deprive myself of (C)good?”
This also is vanity and a [b]grave misfortune.

The Value of a Friend

Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Popularity Passes Away

13 Better a poor and wise youth
Than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more.
14 For he comes out of prison to be king,
Although [c]he was born poor in his kingdom.
15 I saw all the living who walk under the sun;
They were with the second youth who stands in his place.
16 There was no end of all the people [d]over whom he was made king;
Yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in him.
Surely this also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 4:8 Lit. a second
  2. Ecclesiastes 4:8 Lit. evil task
  3. Ecclesiastes 4:14 The youth
  4. Ecclesiastes 4:16 Lit. to all before whom he was to be

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