Ecclesiastes 4

1 I turnede me to othere thingis, and Y siy fals chalengis, that ben don vndur the sunne, and the teeris of innocentis, and no man coumfortour; and that thei forsakun of the help of alle men, moun not ayenstonde the violence of hem.

I thought some more about all the suffering that people are caused to experience on the earth [MTY]. I saw the tears of people who were (oppressed/treated cruelly) and who had no one to comfort/encourage them. Those who oppressed them had power, and there was absolutely no one who was able to comfort those who were being oppressed.

2 And Y preiside more deed men than lyuynge men;

[So] I thought that those who are already dead are more fortunate than those who are still alive.

3 and Y demyde hym, that was not borun yit, and siy not the yuels that ben don vndur the sunne, to be blisfulere than euer eithir.

And those who have not been born yet are more fortunate than those who are still alive and those who have died, [because] those who have not been born have not seen all the evil things that are done on the earth.

4 Eft Y bihelde alle the trauelis of men, and bisynesses; and Y perseyuede that tho ben opyn to the enuye of neiybore; and therfor in this is vanyte, and superflu bisynesse.

I also thought about all the hard work that people do and the skills that they have. And I thought about how they compete with each other because they are envious of others, [and I concluded that] this also is something that is not accomplishing anything useful, [like] chasing the wind.

5 A fool foldith togidere hise hondis, and etith hise fleischis,

Foolish people [refuse to work]; they sit idly, with their hands folded, [and do not work]. [So] they ruin themselves.

6 and seith, Betere is an handful with reste, than euer either hondful with trauel and turment of soule.

[So I say], “It is better to be content with not having much money, than to work very hard and try to get a lot of money, which is [as useless as] chasing the wind.”

7 I bihelde and foond also another vanytee vndir the sunne;

I thought about something else that happens on the earth [MTY] that seems senseless.

8 oon is, and he hath not a secounde; not a sone, not a brother; and netheles he ceesith not for to trauele, nether hise iyen ben fillid with richessis; nether he bithenkith, and seith, To whom trauele Y, and disseyue my soule in goodis? In this also is vanyte, and the worste turment.

There are men who live alone; they do not have a wife or children or any brothers living with them; every day they work [very hard], without stopping, to get a lot of money, but they are never satisfied with the things that they have. They never ask [themselves], “Why am I working very hard to earn more money? Why am I not doing things that would cause me to be happy?” What they do also seems senseless.

9 Therfor it is betere, that tweyne be togidere than oon; for thei han profite of her felouschipe.

Having someone [work] with you is better than being by yourself [all the time]. If you have a friend, he can help you to do your work.

10 If oon fallith doun, he schal be vndurset of the tothere; wo to hym that is aloone, for whanne he fallith, he hath noon reisynge him.

If you fall down, he can help you get up again. But if you fall down when you are alone, it will be difficult for you, because there will be no one to help you stand up.

11 And if tweyne slepen, thei schulen be nurschid togidere; hou schal oon be maad hoot?

Similarly, if two people sleep together, they can keep each other warm. But someone who sleeps alone will certainly not [RHQ] be warm.

12 And if ony man hath maistri ayens oon, tweyne ayen stonden hym; a threfolde corde is brokun of hard.

Someone who is alone can easily be attacked and defeated by another person, but two people can help each other and (resist/defend themselves against) someone who attacks them. [Three people can defend themselves even more easily], [like] a rope that is made from three cords is harder to break [than a rope made from two cords].

13 A pore man and wijs is betere than an eld kyng and fool, that kan not bifore se in to tyme to comynge.

A young man who is poor but wise is a better person than a foolish old king who refuses to pay attention when people try to give him good advice.

14 For sum tyme a man goith out bothe fro prysoun and chaynes to a rewme; and anothir borun in to a rewme is wastid bi nedynesse.

It is possible for a young man like that to succeed and some day become king, even if his parents were poor or even if he was in prison some of the time.

15 I siy alle men lyuynge that goen vndur the sunne, with the secounde yong wexynge man, that schal rise for hym.

But then some other young man becomes king, and everyone (starts to support/is pleased with) him.

16 The noumbre of puple, of alle that weren bifore hym, is greet with outen mesure, and thei that schulen come aftirward, schulen not be glad in hym; but also this is vanyte and turment of the spirit.

Large crowds of people crowd around him. But after a few years, they will reject him, [too]. So it is all senseless, [like] chasing after the wind.