Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is (A)vanity[a] and a striving after wind.

The fool (B)folds his hands and (C)eats his own flesh.

(D)Better is a handful of (E)quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.

(F)Again, I saw vanity under the sun: one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his (G)eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, (H)“For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy (I)business.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 4:4 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also verses 7, 8, 16 (see note on 1:2)

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