New International Reader's Version

Ecclesiastes 4:1-5 New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

1. I looked and saw how much people were suffering on this earth. I saw the tears of those who are suffering. They don't have anyone to comfort them. Power is on the side of those who beat them down. Those who are suffering don't have anyone to comfort them.

2. Then I announced that those who have already died are happier than those who are still alive.

3. But someone who hasn't been born yet is better off than the dead or the living. That's because he hasn't seen the evil things that are done on earth.

4. I also saw that man works hard and accomplishes a lot. But he does it only because he wants what his neighbor has. That doesn't have any meaning either. It's like chasing the wind.

5. A foolish person folds his hands and doesn't work. And that destroys him.