BELIEVER IN CHRIST AS MY BEST FRIEND

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,  but how can one keep warm alone?   12  And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken. 13  Better was  a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how  to take advice.   14  For he went  from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor.   15  I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that [ b ]  youth who was to stand in the king's [ c ]  place.   16  There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is  vanity and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 4   English Standard Version (ESV) 4  Again I  saw all  the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had  no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them.   2  And I  thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive.   3  But  better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun. 4  Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is  vanity [ a ]  and a striving after wind. 5  The fool  folds his hands and  eats his own flesh. 6  Better is a handful of  quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind. 7  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  eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he nev

The God-Given Task 9  What  gain has the worker from his toil?   10  I have seen  the business that  God has given to the children of man to be busy with.   11  He has  made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot  find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.   12  I perceived that there is  nothing better for them than to be joyful and to  do good as long as they live;   13  also  that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is  God's gift to man. 14  I perceived that whatever God does endures forever;  nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.   15  That which is,  already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God  seeks what has been driven away. [ a ]

A Time for Everything 3  For everything there is a season, and  a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to  die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time  to  break down, and a time to build up; a time to  weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to  dance; a time to  cast away stones, and a time to  gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to  refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to  lose; a time to keep, and a time to  cast away; a time to  tear, and a time to sew; a time to  keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love  time for war, and a time for peace. a time to love, and a time to  hate;

The Vanity of Toil 18  I hated  all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must  leave it to the man who will come after me,   19  and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.   20  So I  turned about and gave my heart up to despair  over all the toil of my labors under the sun,   21  because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.   22  What has a man from  all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun?   23  For  all his days are full of sorrow, and his  work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity. 24  There is nothing better for a person than that he should  eat and drink and find enjoyment [ c ]  in his toil. This also, I saw, is  from the hand of God,   2

9  So I became great and  surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my  wisdom remained with me.   10  And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart  found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my  reward for all my toil.   11  Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was  vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing  to be gained under the sun. The Vanity of Living Wisely 12  So I turned to consider  wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only  what has already been done.   13  Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness.   14  The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the  same event happens to all of them.   15  Then I said in my heart,  “What happens to the fool will happen to me

[  All Is Vanity  ] The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? ... The Vanity of Self-Indulgence 2  I  said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. [ a ]   2  I  said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”   3  I  searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on  folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life.   4  I made great works. I  built houses and planted  vineyards for myself.   5  I made myself  gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.   6  I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.   7  I bought male and female slaves, and had  slaves wh