Ecclesiastes 4:5-11

English Standard Version

⁵ The fool ^(A)folds his hands and ^(B)eats his own flesh.

^6 (C)Better is a handful of ^(D)quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.

^7 (E)Again, I saw vanity under the sun: ⁸ one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his ^(F)eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, ^(G)“For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy ^(H)business.

⁹ Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. ¹⁰ For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! ¹¹ Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, ^(I)but how can one keep warm alone?