Read Ecclesiastes 4 in the King James Bible (opens in a new tab)
Ecclesiastes 4 turns from personal striving to the painful realities of oppression, envy, isolation, and unstable human honor in a fallen world. Solomon sees the tears of the oppressed and the lack of comfort for those who suffer, exposing how power in man’s hand often becomes cruelty rather than justice. He also shows that much labor is driven not by godly diligence, but by rivalry and restless comparison, which leaves the soul empty. The chapter warns against both selfish overwork and lonely self-sufficiency, affirming that companionship strengthens and preserves a man in ways isolation cannot. It ends by showing how public admiration and political rise are also fleeting, reminding us that human approval is unstable and cannot be a secure foundation.
Ecclesiastes 4:1 - 4:16
1 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.
2 Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.
3 Yea, better [is he] than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
4 Again, 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.
5 The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.
6 Better [is] an handful [with] quietness, than both the hands full [with] travail and vexation of spirit.
7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.
8 There 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.
9 Two [are] better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
10 For 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.
11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm [alone]?
12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
13 Better [is] a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.
14 For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also [he that is] born in his kingdom becometh poor.
15 I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.
16 [There 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.