Ecc 4:1-4, 7:24-26 | ESV | STEP | 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.

Ecclesiastes 4:1-4

Evil Under the Sun

1 ^aAgain I ^bsaw all ^cthe oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had ^dno one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. 2 And I ^ethought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. 3 But ^fbetter 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 ^gvanity ^{▼▼The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also verses 7, 8, 16 (see note on 1:2)} and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 7:24-26

24 That which has been is far off, and ⁱdeep, very deep; ^jwho can find it out?

25 ^kI turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more ^lbitter than death: ^mthe woman whose heart is ⁿsnares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but ^othe sinner is taken by her.