Ecclesiastes 4:1-8

1Then I looked again at all the acts of 1oppression which were being done under the sun. And behold, I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had 2no one to comfort them; and power was on the side of their oppressors, but they had no one to comfort them. 2So 3I congratulated the dead who are already dead, more than the living who are still living. 3But 4better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

4I have seen that every labor and every 5skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a person and his neighbor. This too is 6futility and striving after wind. 5The fool 7folds his hands and 8consumes his own flesh. 6One hand full of rest is 9better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.

7Then I looked again at futility under the sun. 8There was a man without a 10dependent, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, 11his eyes were not satisfied with riches, and he never asked, “And 12for whom do I labor and deprive myself of pleasure?” This too is futility, and it is an 13unhappy task.