Old/New Testament
4 I looked again, and I saw all the acts of oppression being done under the sun. Just look at the tears of the oppressed, who have no one to comfort them! Their violent oppressors had the upper hand, and there was no one to comfort them.
2 So I congratulate the dead, who already have died, more than the living, who are still alive. 3 But better than either of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil done under the sun.
4 I also saw that all hard work and all accomplishment are the result of a person’s envy of his neighbor. This too is vapor and chasing the wind.
5 The fool idly folds his hands and eats his own flesh. 6 Better one handful with relaxation, than two handfuls with hard work and chasing the wind.
7 I looked again and saw another example of meaningless vapor under the sun: 8 There was a single person all alone, without even a son or a brother, and there was no end to all his hard work. His eyes also were not satisfied with wealth. “So for whom am I working so hard,” he asks, “and depriving myself of enjoyment?” This too is vapor and a miserable task.
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their hard work. 10 If one of them falls, his companion can lift him up. Pity the person who falls and has no one else to lift him up. 11 What’s more, if two lie down, they can keep warm, but how can one person keep warm alone? 12 Though an attacker can overpower one person, two people together can stand up against him. A rope with three strands is not quickly snapped.
13 Better a poor but wise child than an old but foolish king, who no longer knows enough to pay attention to a warning, 14 for he came out of prison to rule as king, even though he had been born poor in the land that became his kingdom.[a] 15 I saw that all the living, all those people walking under the sun, sided with the king’s successor, the child who took his place. 16 There was no end to all the people who were before them. Yet people who come later will not be pleased with him. This too is vapor and chasing the wind.
Empty Vows, Empty Words
5 Watch your step when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen, rather than to give the kind of sacrifice fools give, for they do not know that they are doing wrong.[b] 2 Do not be hasty with your mouth, and in your heart do not be in a hurry to bring a matter before God, because God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. 3 As too much busyness leads to dreams, too many words lead to foolish talk.
4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, for he takes no delight in fools. Fulfill whatever you have vowed. 5 Better that you do not vow, than that you do make a vow and do not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say to the temple official that the vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry because of what you say and ruin the work your hands have done?
7 A lot of dreaming produces a lot of vapor. So does a lot of words.[c] Instead, fear God.
Life Is Futile
8 If you see the poor being oppressed, and you see the province being robbed of justice and fairness, do not be shocked about the situation, because one high official is watched by a higher one, and higher ones are over them! 9 All officials take their cut of the profit from the land; even the king benefits from the fields.[d]
10 Anyone who loves money is never satisfied with money, and anyone who loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is vanishing vapor.
11 When goods increase, so do those who eat them. What profit, then, does the owner get, except to see these things with his eyes?
12 The worker’s sleep is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but a rich person’s abundant possessions allow him no sleep.
13 I have seen a sickening evil under the sun—wealth hoarded by its owner to his own harm, 14 or wealth that is lost in a bad investment. Or a man fathers a son, but he has nothing left in his hand to give him. 15 As he came out from his mother’s womb, so he will go again, naked as he came. From his hard work he can pick up nothing that he can carry away in his hand. 16 This too is a sickening evil: Just as he came, so he will go. So what does he gain, he who works for the wind? 17 Besides this, during all his days he eats in darkness, with great frustration, sickness, and anger.
18 So then, here is what I have seen to be good: It is beautiful to eat, to drink, and to look for good in all a person’s hard work which he has done under the sun, during the few days of his life that God has given him, for that is his reward. 19 Likewise, for everyone to whom God has given wealth and riches, if God has also given him ability to eat from it, to enjoy his reward,[e] and to rejoice in the results of his hard work—this is a gift of God, 20 for the man seldom reflects on the days of his life, since God keeps him busy with the joy in his heart.
6 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, a common burden that people bear:[f] 2 God gives somebody wealth, riches, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of everything that he craves, but God does not give him the opportunity to eat it. Instead, a stranger eats it. This is vapor, and a sickening evil.
3 A man may father a hundred children and live many years, but if his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper burial, no matter how many days he lives, I say, “A stillborn baby is better off than he is.” 4 Why? Because that baby comes like a vapor and leaves in darkness, and its name gets covered in darkness. 5 The baby does not see the sun or know it,[g] but it enjoys more peaceful rest than that man does, 6 even if that man would live a thousand years two times without enjoying good things. They all go to the same place, don’t they?
7 All of a man’s hard work is to feed his mouth, but his appetite[h] never feels satisfied.
8 So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? What advantage does a poor man gain, who knows how to keep walking among the living?[i] 9 Better to have eyes that look at what is actually there than desires that roam. This too is vapor and chasing the wind.
10 Whatever exists already has its name,[j] and it is already known what man is. He is not able to win in court against one who is stronger than he is.[k]
11 Yes, the more words,[l] the more vapor. What advantage does a man have?
12 For who knows what is good for a man in life, in the few days of his life, that vanishes like vapor, that passes like a shadow?[m] Who will tell the man what will be after him, under the sun?
Carried Up to Paradise
12 I must go on boasting, although there is nothing to be gained. So I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who, fourteen years ago, was carried up to the third heaven (whether in the body, I do not know, or out of the body, I do not know—God knows). 3 And I know that such a man (whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know—God knows) 4 was carried up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words that a man cannot possibly speak.[a] 5 On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except about my weaknesses. 6 Indeed, if I wanted to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from doing this, so that no one will think more highly of me than what he sees in me or hears from me.
7 Therefore,[b] to keep me from becoming arrogant due to the extraordinary nature of these revelations, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me, so that I would not become arrogant. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that he would take it away from me. 9 And he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect[c] in weakness.” Therefore I will be glad to boast all the more in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may shelter me.
10 That is why I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For whenever I am weak, then am I strong.
Not a Burden
11 I have become a fool. You forced me. After all, I ought to be commended by you, because I was not inferior to the “super-apostles” in any way, even if I am nothing. 12 The signs of an apostle—signs and wonders and miracles—were performed among you with all perseverance. 13 For how were you treated worse than the other churches, except that I myself was not a burden to you? Forgive me for this wrong.
14 See, this is the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you, because I do not seek your possessions, but you. After all, the children should not have to save up for their parents, but the parents for their children. 15 But I will very gladly spend and be completely spent on behalf of your souls. If I love you all the more, am I to be loved that much less? 16 But be that as it may, I did not burden you. Oh, but I was just being crafty and using deceit to exploit you, wasn’t I! 17 Did I ever take advantage of you through any one of the men I sent to you? 18 I urged Titus to go and sent our brother with him. Surely Titus did not take any advantage of you, did he? Did we not walk in the same spirit—in the very same footprints?
Paul’s Visit
19 Are you thinking that we are trying to defend ourselves to you all this time?[d] We are speaking in the sight of God in Christ. Dear friends, all these words are for your strengthening. 20 For I am afraid that when I arrive, I may not find you as I want you to be, and that you might not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, pride, and disorder. 21 I fear that, when I arrive again, my God will humble me in regard to you, and I will have to grieve for many who sinned earlier and have not repented of the uncleanness, the sexual immorality, and the lewd sins they committed.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.