<h3>Evil Under the Sun</h3>4 Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. 2 And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. 3 But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun. 4 Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. 5 The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh. 6 Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind. 7 Again, I saw vanity under the sun: 8 one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business. 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken. 13 Better was a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice. 14 For he went from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor. 15 I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that youth who was to stand in the king's place. 16 There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:1

<cr>1</cr>Again I <cr>2</cr>saw all <cr>3</cr>the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had <cr>4</cr>no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them.

And I <cr>1</cr>thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive.

Ecclesiastes 4:2

But <cr>1</cr>better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 4:3

Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is <cr>1</cr>vanity<ft>1</ft> and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:4

The fool <cr>1</cr>folds his hands and <cr>2</cr>eats his own flesh.

Ecclesiastes 4:5

<cr>1</cr>Better is a handful of <cr>2</cr>quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:6

<cr>1</cr>Again, I saw vanity under the sun:

Ecclesiastes 4:7

one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his <cr>1</cr>eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, <cr>2</cr>“For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy <cr>3</cr>business.

Ecclesiastes 4:8

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.

Ecclesiastes 4:9

For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

Ecclesiastes 4:10

Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, <cr>1</cr>but how can one keep warm alone?

Ecclesiastes 4:11

And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:12

Better was <cr>1</cr>a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how <cr>2</cr>to take advice.

Ecclesiastes 4:13

For he went <cr>1</cr>from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor.

Ecclesiastes 4:14

I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that<ft>1</ft> youth who was to stand in the king's<ft>2</ft> place.

Ecclesiastes 4:15

There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is <cr>1</cr>vanity and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:16

 1  Again I  saw all  the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had  no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. 2 And I  thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. 3 But  better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun. 4 Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is  vanity  and a striving after wind. 5 The fool  folds his hands and  eats his own flesh. 6  Better is a handful of  quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind. 7  Again, I saw vanity under the sun: 8 one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his  eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks,  “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy  business. 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm,  but how can one keep warm alone? 12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken. 13 Better was  a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how  to take advice. 14 For he went  from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor. 15 I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that  youth who was to stand in the king's  place. 16 There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is  vanity and a striving after wind.

From Wikipedia: 

The English Standard Version (ESV) is an English translation of the Bible. The ESV was published in 2001 by Crossway, having been "created by a team of more than 100 leading evangelical scholars and pastors." The ESV relies on recently published critical editions of the original Hebrew and Greek texts. Crossway claim that the ESV continues a legacy begun by the Tyndale New Testament of precision and faithfulness in English translation of the original text, followed in the same standard by "the King James Version of 1611 (KJV), the English Revised Version of 1885 (RV), the American Standard Version of 1901 (ASV), and the Revised Standard Version of 1952 and 1971." Crossway describes the ESV as a translation that "emphasizes 'word-for-word' accuracy, literary excellence, and depth of meaning." Crossway also describes the ESV as a translation that adheres to an "essentially literal" translation philosophy, taking into account "differences in grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages."

The ESV is derived from the 1971 text edition of the Revised Standard Version (RSV). ESV Translation Oversight Committee member Wayne Grudem claims that approximately eight percent (or about 60,000 words) of the 1971 RSV text being used for the ESV was revised as of first publication in 2001. Grudem states that the committee removed "every trace of liberal influence that had caused such criticism from evangelicals when the RSV was first published in 1952." Although, Grudem also states that much of the 1971 RSV text left unchanged by the committee "is simply 'the best of the best' of the KJV tradition."

With regard to gender language, the ESV Translation Oversight Committee state that "the goal of the ESV is to render literally what is in the original."[9] The committee expands on this position in claiming that, although the ESV avoids using gender-neutral language (for the purpose of preserving contextual meaning found in the original text), the translation does utilize gender-neutral language in specific cases. The committee further state that their objective was "transparency to the original text, allowing the reader to understand the original on its own terms rather than in the terms of our present-day Western culture."[9] The ESV Study Bible often details in its commentary why a complementarian interpretation of the original text may have been rendered in translation.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (5th ed., 1997); additional sources in difficult cases
NT: UBS Greek New Testament (5th corrected ed.); Novum Testamentum Graece (28th ed., 2012)

ecclesiastes 4 - esv

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