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Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of those who were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. Therefore I praised the dead who have been long dead more than the living who are yet alive. Yes, better than them both is him who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

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The Existence of Oppression in the World Makes Human Existence Miserable

I looked again, and I saw all the oppression that occurs under the sun.

I saw the tears of the oppressed—
    no one comforts them!
Those who oppress them are powerful—
    no one can comfort them![a]
So I deemed the dead who have already died
    more fortunate than the living who are still alive.
But better off than both of them is the one who has not yet been born
    and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 4:1 Literally “And look! The tears of the oppressed, and there is no comforting for them, and from the hand of oppressors of them was power, and there is no comforting for them”