Old/New Testament

4 Next I observed all the oppression and sadness throughout the earth—the tears of the oppressed, and no one helping them, while on the side of their oppressors were powerful allies. ² So I felt that the dead were better off than the living. ³ And most fortunate of all are those who have never been born and have never seen all the evil and crime throughout the earth.

⁴ Then I observed that the basic motive for success is the driving force of envy and jealousy! But this, too, is foolishness, chasing the wind. ^5-6 The fool won’t work and almost starves but feels that it is better to be lazy and barely get by, than to work hard, when in the long run it is all so futile.

⁷ I also observed another piece of foolishness around the earth. ⁸ This is the case of a man who is quite alone, without a son or brother, yet he works hard to keep gaining more riches. And to whom will he leave it all, and why is he giving up so much now? It is all so pointless and depressing.

⁹ Two can accomplish more than twice as much as one, for the results can be much better. ¹⁰ If one falls, the other pulls him up; but if a man falls when he is alone, he’s in trouble.

¹¹ Also, on a cold night, two under the same blanket gain warmth from each other, but how can one be warm alone? ¹² And one standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer; three is even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

¹³ It is better to be a poor but wise youth than to be an old and foolish king who refuses all advice. ¹⁴ Such a lad could come from prison and succeed. He might even become king though born in poverty. ¹⁵ Everyone is eager to help a youth like that, even to help him usurp the throne. ¹⁶ He can become the leader of millions of people and be very popular. But, then, the younger generation grows up around him and rejects him! So again, it is all foolishness, chasing the wind.

5 ^1-3 As you enter the Temple, keep your ears open and your mouth shut! Don’t be a fool who doesn’t even realize it is sinful to make rash promises to God, for he is in heaven and you are only here on earth, so let your words be few. Just as being too busy gives you nightmares, so being a fool makes you a blabbermouth. ⁴ So when you talk to God and vow to him that you will do something, don’t delay in doing it, for God has no pleasure in fools. Keep your promise to him. ⁵ It is far better not to say you’ll do something than to say you will and then not do it. ^6-7 In that case, your mouth is making you sin. Don’t try to defend yourself by telling the messenger from God that it was all a mistake to make the vow.^[a] That would make God very angry; and he might destroy your prosperity. Dreaming instead of doing is foolishness, and there is ruin in a flood of empty words; fear God instead.

⁸ If you see some poor man being oppressed by the rich, with miscarriage of justice anywhere throughout the land, don’t be surprised! For every official is under orders from higher up, and the higher officials look up to their superiors. And so the matter is lost in red tape and bureaucracy.^{[b] 9} And over them all is the king. Oh, for a king who is devoted to his country! Only he can bring order from this chaos.

¹⁰ He who loves money shall never have enough. The foolishness of thinking that wealth brings happiness! ¹¹ The more you have, the more you spend, right up to the limits of your income. So what is the advantage of wealth—except perhaps to watch it as it runs through your fingers! ¹² The man who works hard sleeps well whether he eats little or much, but the rich must worry and suffer insomnia.

^13-14 There is another serious problem I have seen everywhere—savings are put into risky investments that turn sour, and soon there is nothing left to pass on to one’s son. ¹⁵ The man who speculates is soon back to where he began—with nothing. ¹⁶ This, as I said, is a very serious problem, for all his hard work has been for nothing; he has been working for the wind. It is all swept away. ¹⁷ All the rest of his life he is under a cloud—gloomy, discouraged, frustrated, and angry.

¹⁸ Well, one thing, at least, is good: It is for a man to eat well, drink a good glass of wine, accept his position in life, and enjoy his work whatever his job may be, for however long the Lord may let him live. ^19-20 And, of course, it is very good if a man has received wealth from the Lord and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and to accept your lot in life—that is indeed a gift from God. The person who does that will not need to look back with sorrow on his past, for God gives him joy.

6 Yes, but there is a very serious evil which I have seen everywhere— ² God has given to some men very great wealth and honor so that they can have everything they want, but he doesn’t give them the health to enjoy it, and they die and others get it all! This is absurd, a hollow mockery, and a serious fault.

³ Even if a man has a hundred sons and as many daughters and lives to be very old, but leaves so little money at his death that his children can’t even give him a decent burial—I say that he would be better off born dead. ⁴ For though his birth would then be futile and end in darkness, without even a name, ⁵ never seeing the sun or even knowing its existence, yet that is better than to be an old, unhappy man. ⁶ Though a man lives a thousand years twice over but doesn’t find contentment—well, what’s the use?

^7-8 Wise men and fools alike spend their lives scratching for food and never seem to get enough. Both have the same problem, yet the poor man who is wise lives a far better life. ⁹ A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush; mere dreaming of nice things is foolish; it’s chasing the wind.

¹⁰ All things are decided by fate; it was known long ago what each man would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny.

¹¹ The more words you speak, the less they mean, so why bother to speak at all?

¹² In these few days of our empty lifetimes, who can say how one’s days can best be spent? Who can know what will prove best for the future after he is gone? For who knows the future?

12 This boasting is all so foolish, but let me go on. Let me tell about the visions I’ve had, and revelations from the Lord.

^2-3 Fourteen years ago I^[a] was taken up to heaven for a visit. Don’t ask me whether my body was there or just my spirit, for I don’t know; only God can answer that. But anyway, there I was in paradise, ⁴ and heard things so astounding that they are beyond a man’s power to describe or put in words (and anyway I am not allowed to tell them to others). ⁵ That experience is something worth bragging about, but I am not going to do it. I am going to boast only about how weak I am and how great God is to use such weakness for his glory. ⁶ I have plenty to boast about and would be no fool in doing it, but I don’t want anyone to think more highly of me than he should from what he can actually see in my life and my message.

⁷ I will say this: because these experiences I had were so tremendous, God was afraid I might be puffed up by them; so I was given a physical condition which has been a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to hurt and bother me and prick my pride. ⁸ Three different times I begged God to make me well again.

⁹ Each time he said, “No. But I am with you; that is all you need. My power shows up best in weak people.” Now I am glad to boast about how weak I am; I am glad to be a living demonstration of Christ’s power, instead of showing off my own power and abilities. ¹⁰ Since I know it is all for Christ’s good, I am quite happy about “the thorn,” and about insults and hardships, persecutions and difficulties; for when I am weak, then I am strong—the less I have, the more I depend on him.

¹¹ You have made me act like a fool—boasting like this—for you people ought to be writing about me and not making me write about myself. There isn’t a single thing these other marvelous fellows have that I don’t have too, even though I am really worth nothing at all. ¹² When I was there I certainly gave you every proof that I was truly an apostle, sent to you by God himself, for I patiently did many wonders and signs and mighty works among you. ¹³ The only thing I didn’t do for you, which I do everywhere else in all other churches, was to become a burden to you—I didn’t ask you to give me food to eat and a place to stay. Please forgive me for this wrong!

¹⁴ Now I am coming to you again, the third time; and it is still not going to cost you anything, for I don’t want your money. I want you! And anyway, you are my children, and little children don’t pay for their father’s and mother’s food—it’s the other way around; parents supply food for their children. ¹⁵ I am glad to give you myself and all I have for your spiritual good, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me.

¹⁶ Some of you are saying, “It’s true that his visits didn’t seem to cost us anything, but he is a sneaky fellow, that Paul, and he fooled us. As sure as anything he must have made money from us some way.”

¹⁷ But how? Did any of the men I sent to you take advantage of you? ¹⁸ When I urged Titus to visit you and sent our other brother with him, did they make any profit? No, of course not. For we have the same Holy Spirit and walk in each other’s steps, doing things the same way.

¹⁹ I suppose you think I am saying all this to get back into your good graces. That isn’t it at all. I tell you, with God listening as I say it, that I have said this to help you, dear friends—to build you up spiritually—and not to help myself. ²⁰ For I am afraid that when I come to visit you I won’t like what I find, and then you won’t like the way I will have to act. I am afraid that I will find you quarreling, and envying each other, and being angry with each other, and acting big, and saying wicked things about each other, and whispering behind each other’s backs, filled with conceit and disunity. ²¹ Yes, I am afraid that when I come God will humble me before you and I will be sad and mourn because many of you have sinned before and don’t even care about the wicked, impure things you have done: your lust and immorality, and the taking of other men’s wives.