Ecclesiastes 4:4-6

The Voice

The imbalance of power creates many victims. Worldly power, sourced in corrupt systems “under the sun,” is on the side of the oppressor. Few are in the ditches with the broken and poor.

Teacher: ⁴Then I saw yet another thing: envy fuels achievement. All the work and skills people develop come from their desire to be better than their neighbors. Even this is fleeting, like trying to embrace the wind.

⁵    As the saying goes:
    The fool folds his hands to rest
        and lets his flesh waste away.
⁶    And it is better to have one handful of peace
        than to have two hands full of hard work
        and a desire to catch the wind.