Ecclesiastes 4:3-5

New Living Translation

³But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born. For they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun.

⁴Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

⁵“Fools fold their idle hands,
leading them to ruin.”

Ecclesiastes 4:3-5

New International Version

³But 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)

⁴And 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)

⁵Fools fold their hands^(D)
and ruin themselves.

New Living Translation (NLT)

New International Version (NIV)