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Then I returned and considered all the a oppression that is done under the sun:
And look! The tears of the oppressed,
But they have no comforter -
1 On the side of their oppressors there is power,
But they have no comforter.
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b Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead,
More than the living who are still alive.
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c Yet, better than both is he who has never existed,
Who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
4 Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
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d The fool folds his hands
And consumes his own flesh.
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e Better a handful with quietness
Than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind.
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Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun:
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There is one alone, without 2 companion:
He has neither son nor brother.
Yet there is no end to all his labors,
Nor is his f eye satisfied with riches.
But g he never asks,
"For whom do I toil and deprive myself of h good?"
This also is vanity and a 3 grave misfortune.
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Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
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For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
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Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
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Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
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Better a poor and wise youth
Than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more.
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For he comes out of prison to be king,
Although 4 he was born poor in his kingdom.
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I saw all the living who walk under the sun;
They were with the second youth who stands in his place.
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There was no end of all the people 5 over whom he was made king;
Yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in him.
Surely this also is vanity and grasping for the wind.