The Evil of Oppression
Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter. Ecc 3:16Ecc 5:82Ti 4:16-17Isa 5:7Isa 51:23Isa 59:13-15Jas 5:4Job 35:9 So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive. Job 3:11-26Ecc 2:17Ecc 9:4-6 But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun. Luk 23:29Ecc 6:3-5Mat 24:19Ecc 2:17Jer 20:17-18Jer 9:2-3Job 10:18-19Job 3:10-16
I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind. 1Jn 3:12Ecc 1:14Ecc 2:21Ecc 2:261Sa 18:14-161Sa 18:29-301Sa 18:8-9Ecc 4:16
The fool folds his hands Isa 9:20Pro 6:10-11Pro 13:4Job 13:14Pro 20:4Pro 11:17Pro 12:27Pro 24:33-34
and consumes his own flesh.
Better one handful with tranquility Pro 15:16-17Pro 16:8Psa 37:16Pro 17:1
than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind.
Again, I saw futility under the sun. Ecc 4:1Psa 78:33Zec 1:6 There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task. 1Jn 2:16Pro 27:20Luk 12:20Ecc 1:8Ecc 1:13Mat 11:28Ecc 4:9-12Ecc 5:10
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. Pro 27:17Gen 2:181Co 12:18-21Mrk 6:7Num 11:14Jhn 4:36Rut 2:12Act 13:2 For if one falls down, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up! 1Th 5:111Th 4:18Gal 6:1Isa 35:3-4Job 4:3-41Sa 23:16Luk 22:31-322Sa 12:7-14 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone? 1Ki 1:1-4 And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Dan 3:16-17Eph 4:32Sa 23:92Sa 23:232Sa 23:18-192Sa 23:16
The Futility of Power
Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take a warning. 2Ch 25:16Pro 19:12Ch 16:9-10Pro 28:15-161Ki 22:8Ecc 9:15-16Gen 37:2Pro 28:6 For the youth has come from the prison to the kingship, though he was born poor in his own kingdom. Gen 41:14Psa 113:7-8Job 5:11Lam 4:202Ki 24:122Ki 24:62Ki 25:27-302Ki 25:7
I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed this second one, the youth who succeeded the king. 2Sa 15:6 There is no limit to all the people who were before them. Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind. Ecc 1:141Ki 1:40Ecc 2:171Ki 1:5-71Ki 12:10-162Sa 15:12-132Sa 18:7-82Sa 19:9