HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 960
EC C LES I A S T ES 4
page 590
to end. 12 So I concluded there is nothing better
than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long
as we can. 13 And people should eat and drink
and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are
gifts from God.
14 And I know that whatever God does is
final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from
it. God’s purpose is that people should fear
him. 15 What is happening now has happened
before, and what will happen in the future has
happened before, because God makes the same
things happen over and over again.
much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless
and depressing.
9 Two people are better off than one, for they
can help each other succeed. 10 If one person
falls, the other can reach out and help. But
someone who falls alone is in real trouble.
11 Likewise, two people lying close together can
keep each other warm. But how can one be
warm alone? 12 A person standing alone can be
attacked and defeated, but two can stand backto-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a
triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
The Injustices of Life
16 I also noticed that under the sun there is evil
in the courtroom. Yes, even the courts of law are
corrupt! 17 I said to myself, “In due season God
will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all
their deeds.”
18 I also thought about the human condition—how God proves to people that they are
like animals. 19 For people and animals share the
same fate—both breathe* and both must die. So
people have no real advantage over the animals.
How meaningless! 20 Both go to the same place—
they came from dust and they return to dust.
21 For who can prove that the human spirit goes
up and the spirit of animals goes down into the
earth? 22 So I saw that there is nothing better for
people than to be happy in their work. That is
our lot in life. And no one can bring us back to
see what happens after we die.
The Futility of Political Power
13 It is better to be a poor but wise youth than
an old and foolish king who refuses all advice.
14 Such a youth could rise from poverty and succeed. He might even become king, though he
has been in prison. 15 But then everyone rushes
to the side of yet another youth* who replaces
him. 16 Endless crowds stand around him,* but
then another generation grows up and rejects
him, too. So it is all meaningless—like chasing
the wind.
4
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. 2 So I concluded that the
dead are better off than the living. 3 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.
4 Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing
the wind.
5
“Fools fold their idle hands,
leading them to ruin.”
6 And
yet,
“Better to have one handful with quietness
than two handfuls with hard work
and chasing the wind.”
The Advantages of Companionship
7 I observed yet another example of something
meaningless under the sun. 8 This is the case
of a man who is all alone, without a child or
a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much
wealth as he can. But then he asks himself,
“Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so
Approaching God with Care
1*As you enter the house of God, keep your
ears open and your mouth shut. It is evil to
make mindless offerings to God. 2*Don’t make
rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing
matters before God. After all, God is in heaven,
and you are here on earth. So let your words
be few.
3 Too much activity gives you restless dreams;
too many words make you a fool.
4 When you make a promise to God, don’t delay
in following through, for God takes no pleasure
in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him.
5 It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it. 6 Don’t let your mouth make
you sin. And don’t defend yourself by telling the
Temple messenger that the promise you made
was a mistake. That would make God angry, and
he might wipe out everything you have achieved.
7 Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead.
5
The Futility of Wealth
8 Don’t be surprised if you see a poor person
being oppressed by the powerful and if justice
is being miscarried throughout the land. For
every official is under orders from higher up,
and matters of justice get lost in red tape and
bureaucracy. 9 Even the king milks the land for
his own profit!*
10 Those who love money will never have
enough. How meaningless to think that wealth
3:19 Or both have the same spirit. 4:15 Hebrew the second
youth. 4:16 Hebrew There is no end to all the people, to all
those who are before them. 5:1 Verse 5:1 is numbered 4:17 in
Hebrew text. 5:2 Verses 5:2-20 are numbered 5:1-19 in Hebrew
text. 5:9 The meaning of the Hebrew in verses 8 and 9 is
uncertain.