1.
But I returned and saw all the oppressed who are made [so] under the sun, and behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they have no consoler, and from the hand of their oppressors there is power, but they have no consoler.
2.
And I praise the dead who have already died, more than the living who are still alive.
3.
And better than both of them is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
4.
And I saw all the toil and all the excellence of work, which is a man's envy of his friend; this too is vanity and frustration.
5.
The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh.
6.
Better is a handful of ease than two handfuls of toil and frustration.
7.
And I returned and saw vanity under the sun.
8.
There is one, and there is no second; yea, he has neither son nor brother, and there is no end to all his toil; neither is his eye sated from wealth. Now for whom do I toil and deprive my soul of pleasure? This too is vanity and an unhappy affair.
9.
Two are better than one, since they have good reward for their toil.
10.
For if they fall, one will lift up his friend, but woe to the one who falls and has no second one to lift him up.
11.
Moreover, if two lie down, they will have warmth, but how will one have warmth?
12.
And if a man prevails against the one, the two will stand against him, and a three- stranded cord will not quickly be broken.
13.
Better a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king, who no longer knows to receive admonition.
14.
For out of the prison he has come to reign, for even in his kingdom, he becomes humble.
15.
I saw all the living who walk under the sun, with the second child who will rise in his stead.
16.
There is no end to all the people, to all that were before them; also the last ones will not rejoice with him, for this too is vanity and frustration.
17.
Watch your feet when you go to the House of God, and be ready to obey rather than fools should give sacrifice, for they know not that they do evil.
