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Ecclesiastes 4:4-6
Christian Standard Bible

The Loneliness of Wealth

4 I saw that all labor and all skillful work is due to one person’s jealousy of another.(A) This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.[a](B)

5 The fool folds his arms(C)
and consumes his own flesh.(D)
6 Better one handful with rest
than two handfuls with effort and a pursuit of the wind.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 4:4 Or a feeding on wind, or an affliction of spirit; also in vv. 6,16
Listen to Ecclesiastes 4:4-6
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Ecclesiastes 4:4-6
English Standard Version

4 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.

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

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

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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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