1 Again I saw all the oppressions that take place under the sun: the tears of the victims with none to comfort them! From the hand of their oppressors comes violence, and there is none to comfort them!
2 And those now dead, I declared more fortunate in death than are the living to be still alive.
3 And better off than both is the yet unborn, who has not seen the wicked work that is done under the sun.
4 Then I saw that all toil and skillful work is the rivalry of one person with another. This also is vanity and a chase after wind.
5 “Fools fold their armsand consume their own flesh”—
6 Better is one handful with tranquilitythan two with toil and a chase after wind!
7 Again I saw this vanity under the sun: