Ecclesiastes 4:4-6
New Living Translation
4 Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
5 “Fools fold their idle hands,
leading them to ruin.”
6 And yet,
“Better to have one handful with quietness
than two handfuls with hard work
and chasing the wind.”
Ecclesiastes 4:4-6
Lexham English Bible
People Need Balance in Their Approach to Labor
4 I also realized that all of the toil and all of the skillful work that is done—it is envy between one man and another.[a] This also is vanity and chasing wind!
5 The fool refuses to work with his hands,
so he has nothing to eat except his own skin![b]
6 Better is one handful with peace
than two fists full with toil and chasing wind.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 4:4 Literally “his friend”
- Ecclesiastes 4:5 Literally “The fool folds his hands and eats his flesh”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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