Ecclesiastes 4 - Prayer Tents



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Ecclesiastes 4
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4Again, 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.H7725H7200H6217H6213H8121H1832H6231H5162H3027H6231H3581H5162 2So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living.H7623H4191H3528H4191H2416H5728H2416 3But 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.H2896H8147H5728H7200H7451H4639H6213H8121 4Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.H7200H5999H3788H4639H376H7068H7453H1892H7469H7307 5“Fools fold their idle hands, leading them to ruin.”H3684H2263H3027H2263H398H1320 6And yet, “Better to have one handful with quietness than two handfuls with hard work and chasing the wind.”H2896H3709H5183H2651H4393H5999H7469H7307

The Advantages of Companionship

7I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun.H7725H7200H1892H8121 8This 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 much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing.H3426H259H8145H1121H251H7093H5999H5869H7646H6239H6001H2637H5315H2896H1892H7451H6045 9Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.H8147H2896H259H3426H2896H7939H5999 10If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.H5307H259H6965H2270H337H259H5307H8145H6965 11Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone?H1571H8147H7901H2552H259H3179 12A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.H259H8630H8147H5975H8027H2339H4120H5423

The Futility of Political Power

13It is better to be a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king who refuses all advice.H2896H4542H2450H3206H2205H3684H4428H3045H2094 14Such a youth could rise from poverty and succeed. He might even become king, though he has been in prison.H631H1004H3318H4427H3205H4438H7326 15But then everyone rushes to the side of yet another youth who replaces him.H7200H2416H1980H8121H8145H3206H5975 16Endless crowds stand around him, but then another generation grows up and rejects him, too. So it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.H7093H5971H6440H314H8055H1892H7475H7307


New Living Translation (NLT). Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. More details.
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