Ecclesiastes 4
What Happens in This Chapter
The writer looks at people who are treated cruelly, with no one to comfort them. He looks at hard work that grows out of envy, and at a rich man who works alone with no family to share it. He then says two people together are stronger than one, and a rope of three strands is hard to break. He ends with a poor but wise young man who becomes king, and says the crowds who follow him will not stay glad.
Plain reading written for kids. Short sentences, everyday words, one idea at a time.
So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.
1I looked again at all the cruel things done in this world. I saw people who were hurt, and they cried. No one came to comfort them. The people hurting them held all the power. And still no one came to comfort them.
"Under the sun" is the writer's way of saying "here in this world, in this life." He says it many times in this book.
2Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.
2So I said that the dead are better off than the living.
3Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
3But better than both is a person who was never born. That person has not seen the evil done in this world.
4Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
4Then I saw why people work hard and do well. They do it because they want what their neighbor has. This means nothing. It is like chasing the wind.
The old words "vanity and vexation of spirit" mean something is empty, and going after it is like trying to catch the wind.
5The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.
5A foolish person folds his hands and will not work. Little by little, he ruins himself.
"Eateth his own flesh" is a word picture. It means the lazy man slowly wears himself out and has nothing left.
6Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.
6One handful with a quiet, calm life is better. That beats two handfuls won by hard work and chasing the wind.
7Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.
7Then I looked again and saw something else in this world that means nothing.
8There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.
8There is a man who is all alone. He has no son and no brother. Still he works and works and never stops. He has money, but he always wants more. He never asks, "Who am I working for?" He never asks, "Why do I keep good things away from myself?" This means nothing. It is a sad, hard way to live.
9Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
9Two people are better than one. They get more for the work they do together.
10For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
10If one of them falls down, the other can help him up. But it is sad for the person who falls alone. No one is there to lift him up.
11Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?
11If two people lie down together, they keep each other warm. But how can one person stay warm alone?
12And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
12One person alone can be beaten by someone stronger. But two people can stand and hold him off. A rope made of three strands is hard to break.
13Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.
13A young person who is poor but wise is better than an old king who is foolish. That king will not listen to warnings anymore.
14For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor.
14That young man came out of prison to become king. He was born poor in the very land he now rules.
15I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.
15I watched all the people who live and move in this world. They followed the young man who took the old king's place.
16There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
16The crowd who followed him had no end. But the people born later will not be glad about him. This means nothing. It is like chasing the wind.
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