Ecclesiastes 3:16-4
New King James Version
Injustice Seems to Prevail
16 Moreover (A)I saw under the sun:
In the place of [a]judgment,
Wickedness was there;
And in the place of righteousness,
[b]Iniquity was there.
17 I said in my heart,
(B)“God shall judge the righteous and the wicked,
For there is a time there for every [c]purpose and for every work.”
18 I said in my heart, “Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals.” 19 (C)For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. 20 All go to one place: (D)all are from the dust, and all return to dust. 21 (E)Who[d] knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth? 22 (F)So I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for (G)that is his [e]heritage. (H)For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?
The Uselessness of Selfish Toil
4 Then I returned and considered all the (I)oppression that is done under the sun:
And look! The tears of the oppressed,
But they have no comforter—
[f]On the side of their oppressors there is power,
But they have no comforter.
2 (J)Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead,
More than the living who are still alive.
3 (K)Yet, better than both is he who has never existed,
Who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
The Vanity of Selfish Toil
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.
5 (L)The fool folds his hands
And consumes his own flesh.
6 (M)Better a handful with quietness
Than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind.
7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun:
8 There is one alone, without [g]companion:
He has neither son nor brother.
Yet there is no end to all his labors,
Nor is his (N)eye satisfied with riches.
But (O)he never asks,
“For whom do I toil and deprive myself of (P)good?”
This also is vanity and a [h]grave misfortune.
The Value of a Friend
9 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 [i]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 [j]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.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 3:16 justice
- Ecclesiastes 3:16 Wickedness
- Ecclesiastes 3:17 desire
- Ecclesiastes 3:21 LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. Who knows whether the spirit . . . goes upward, and whether . . . goes downward to the earth?
- Ecclesiastes 3:22 portion or lot
- Ecclesiastes 4:1 Lit. At the hand
- Ecclesiastes 4:8 Lit. a second
- Ecclesiastes 4:8 Lit. evil task
- Ecclesiastes 4:14 The youth
- Ecclesiastes 4:16 Lit. to all before whom he was to be
Ecclesiastes 3:16-4
The Message
God’s Testing Us
16-18 I took another good look at what’s going on: The very place of judgment—corrupt! The place of righteousness—corrupt! I said to myself, “God will judge righteous and wicked.” There’s a right time for every thing, every deed—and there’s no getting around it. I said to myself regarding the human race, “God’s testing the lot of us, showing us up as nothing but animals.”
19-22 Humans and animals come to the same end—humans die, animals die. We all breathe the same air. So there’s really no advantage in being human. None. Everything’s smoke. We all end up in the same place—we all came from dust, we all end up as dust. Nobody knows for sure that the human spirit rises to heaven or that the animal spirit sinks into the earth. So I made up my mind that there’s nothing better for us men and women than to have a good time in whatever we do—that’s our lot. Who knows if there’s anything else to life?
Slow Suicide
4 1-3 Next I turned my attention to all the outrageous violence that takes place on this planet—the tears of the victims, no one to comfort them; the iron grip of oppressors, no one to rescue the victims from them. So I congratulated the dead who are already dead instead of the living who are still alive. But luckier than the dead or the living is the person who has never even been, who has never seen the bad business that takes place on this earth.
4 Then I observed all the work and ambition motivated by envy. What a waste! Smoke. And spitting into the wind.
5 The fool sits back and takes it easy,
His sloth is slow suicide.
6 One handful of peaceful repose
Is better than two fistfuls of worried work—
More spitting into the wind.
Why Am I Working Like a Dog?
7-8 I turned my head and saw yet another wisp of smoke on its way to nothingness: a solitary person, completely alone—no children, no family, no friends—yet working obsessively late into the night, compulsively greedy for more and more, never bothering to ask, “Why am I working like a dog, never having any fun? And who cares?” More smoke. A bad business.
9-10 It’s better to have a partner than go it alone.
Share the work, share the wealth.
And if one falls down, the other helps,
But if there’s no one to help, tough!
11 Two in a bed warm each other.
Alone, you shiver all night.
12 By yourself you’re unprotected.
With a friend you can face the worst.
Can you round up a third?
A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.
* * *
13-16 A poor child with some wisdom is better off than an old but foolish king who doesn’t know which end is up. I saw a youth just like this start with nothing and go from rags to riches, and I saw everyone rally to the rule of this young successor to the king. Even so, the excitement died quickly, the throngs of people soon lost interest. Can’t you see it’s only smoke? And spitting into the wind?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson