Ecclesiastes 4:1-3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 4
Vanity of Toil. 1 Again I saw all the oppressions that take place under the sun: the tears of the victims with none to comfort[a] them! From the hand of their oppressors comes violence, and there is none to comfort them!(A) 2 And those now dead, I declared more fortunate in death than are the living to be still alive.(B) 3 And better off than both is the yet unborn, who has not seen the wicked work that is done under the sun.
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- 4:1 Oppressions…victims…none to comfort: the author obviously feels deeply about the plight of the oppressed, but he seems to feel powerless to do anything. The repetition of “none to comfort” is purposeful, and emphatic.
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