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:
8. those all alone with no companion, with neither child nor sibling—with no end to all their toil, and no satisfaction from riches. For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good things? This also is vanity and a bad business.