¹⁶ Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. ¹⁷ I said to myself, “God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,” for a time for every matter and for every deed is there. ¹⁸ I said to myself concerning the sons of men, “God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts.” ¹⁹ For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity. ²⁰ All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust. ²¹ Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth? ²² I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?

4 Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun. And behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them. ² So I congratulated the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living. ³ But better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

⁴ I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind. ⁵ The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh. ⁶ One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.

⁷ Then I looked again at vanity under the sun. ⁸ There was a certain man without a dependent, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches and he never asked, “And for whom am I laboring and depriving myself of pleasure?” This too is vanity and it is a grievous task.

⁹ Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. ¹⁰ For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.¹¹ Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? ¹² And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.

¹³ A poor yet wise lad is better than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to receive instruction. ¹⁴ For he has come out of prison to become king, even though he was born poor in his kingdom. ¹⁵ I have seen all the living under the sun throng to the side of the second lad who replaces him. ¹⁶ There is no end to all the people, to all who were before them, and even the ones who will come later will not be happy with him, for this too is vanity and striving after wind.