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Ecclesiastes 4:3-5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Ecclesiastes 4:3-5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
3 And better off than both is the yet unborn, who has not seen the wicked work that is done under the sun. 4 Then I saw that all toil and skillful work is the rivalry of one person with another. This also is vanity and a chase after wind.
5 “Fools fold their arms
and consume their own flesh”—[a]
Footnotes
- 4:5 Consume their own flesh: an enigmatic statement. In the context of vv. 4 and 6 it seems to warn that those who refuse to work for the necessities of life will suffer hunger and impair their bodily health. But the verse could also be intended for the industrious: Even the lazy may manage to have “their own flesh,” that is, have sufficient food to eat.
Ecclesiastes 4:3-5
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 4:3-5
New International Version
3 But better than both
is the one who has never been born,(A)
who has not seen the evil
that is done under the sun.(B)
4 And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.(C)
5 Fools fold their hands(D)
and ruin themselves.
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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New International Version (NIV) 
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