Ecclesiastes 4
1 And I have turned, and I see all the oppressions that are done under the sun, and lo, the tear of the oppressed, and they have no comforter; and at the hand of their oppressors [is] power, and they have no comforter.
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.
2 And I am praising the dead who have already died above the living who are yet alive.
And Y preiside more deed men than lyuynge men;
3 And better than both of them [is] he who hath not yet been, in that he hath not seen the evil work that hath been done under the sun.
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.
4 And I have seen all the labour, and all the benefit of the work, because for it a man is the envy of his neighbour. Even this [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.
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.
5 The fool is clasping his hands, and eating his own flesh:
A fool foldith togidere hise hondis, and etith hise fleischis,
6 'Better [is] a handful [with] quietness, than two handfuls [with] labour and vexation of spirit.'
and seith, Betere is an handful with reste, than euer either hondful with trauel and turment of soule.
7 And I have turned, and I see a vain thing under the sun:
I bihelde and foond also another vanytee vndir the sunne;
8 There is one, and there is not a second; even son or brother he hath not, and there is no end to all his labour! His eye also is not satisfied with riches, and [he saith not], 'For whom am I labouring and bereaving my soul of good?' This also is vanity, it is a sad travail.
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.
9 The two [are] better than the one, in that they have a good reward by their labour.
Therfor it is betere, that tweyne be togidere than oon; for thei han profite of her felouschipe.
10 For if they fall, the one raiseth up his companion, but woe to the one who falleth and there is not a second to raise him up!
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.
11 Also, if two lie down, then they have heat, but how hath one heat?
And if tweyne slepen, thei schulen be nurschid togidere; hou schal oon be maad hoot?
12 And if the one strengthen himself, the two stand against him; and the threefold cord is not hastily broken.
And if ony man hath maistri ayens oon, tweyne ayen stonden hym; a threfolde corde is brokun of hard.
13 Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king, who hath not known to be warned any more.
A pore man and wijs is betere than an eld kyng and fool, that kan not bifore se in to tyme to comynge.
14 For from a house of prisoners he hath come out to reign, for even in his own kingdom he hath been poor.
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.
15 I have seen all the living, who are walking under the sun, with the second youth who doth stand in his place;
I siy alle men lyuynge that goen vndur the sunne, with the secounde yong wexynge man, that schal rise for hym.
16 there is no end to all the people, to all who were before them; also, the latter rejoice not in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
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.
