Ecclesiastes is a wisdom book that questions the meaning of life and the value of human endeavors. The title 'Qoheleth' suggests one who assembles or teaches a congregation. Its canonicity was debated due to its skeptical tone but was accepted due to its orthodox conclusion of fearing God.
Ecclesiastes
Chapter 4
I turned myself to other things, and I saw the false accusations that occur under the sun: the tears of the innocent, with no one to comfort them; and they are unable to resist the violence of their oppressors, since they lack anyone to assist them.
And so, I praised the dead more than the living.
And I considered happier than both of them the one who has not yet been born, and who has not yet seen the evil that is done under the sun.
Again, I considered all the labors of men, and I realized that their industries are open to the envy of their neighbors. And so, in this manner, all is emptiness and an affliction of the spirit.
The fool folds his hands together, and consumes his own flesh, saying,
“A handful with rest is better than both hands full with labor and an affliction of the spirit.”
Considering, I also found another vanity under the sun:
He is one alone, and he has no one, not a son, nor a brother. Yet he struggles to labor ceaselessly; his eyes are not satisfied by wealth. And yet he does not ask himself: “For whom do I labor and defraud my soul of good things?” In this, it is also emptiness and a most burdensome affliction.
Therefore, it is better for two to be together, than for one to be alone. For they have the advantage of their companionship.
If one falls, he shall be supported by the other. Woe to one who is alone. For when he falls, he has no one to lift him up.
And if two sleep together, they warm one another. How can one be warm alone?
And if a man can overpower one, two can withstand him. A threefold cord is not easily broken.
A better is a boy, poor and wise, than a king, old and foolish, who does not know to foresee for the future.
For sometimes a man departs from prison and chains to a kingdom, while another, born to the kingdom, is consumed by need.
I saw all the living who walk under the sun with the second youth, who rises up in their place.
The multitude of all those who were before him is infinite, and those who will come afterwards shall not rejoice in him. But this, too, is emptiness and an affliction of the spirit.