Again, I observed all the acts of oppression being done under the sun.(A) Look at the tears of those who are oppressed; they have no one to comfort them. Power is with those who oppress them; they have no one to comfort them. So I admired the dead,(B) who have already died, more than the living, who are still alive. But better than either of them is the one who has not yet existed,(C) who has not seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

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Again, I observed all the oppression that takes place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless. So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living. But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born. For they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun.

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