Ecclesiastes 4:1-3
New King James Version
The Uselessness of Selfish Toil
4 Then I returned and considered all the (A)oppression that is done under the sun:
And look! The tears of the oppressed,
But they have no comforter—
[a]On the side of their oppressors there is power,
But they have no comforter.
2 (B)Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead,
More than the living who are still alive.
3 (C)Yet, better than both is he who has never existed,
Who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 4:1 Lit. At the hand
Ecclesiastes 4:1-3
New International Version
Oppression, Toil, Friendlessness
4 Again I looked and saw all the oppression(A) that was taking place under the sun:
I saw the tears of the oppressed—
and they have no comforter;
power was on the side of their oppressors—
and they have no comforter.(B)
2 And I declared that the dead,(C)
who had already died,
are happier than the living,
who are still alive.(D)
3 But better than both
is the one who has never been born,(E)
who has not seen the evil
that is done under the sun.(F)
Job 3:1-3
New King James Version
Job Deplores His Birth
3 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 And Job [a]spoke, and said:
3 “May(A) the day perish on which I was born,
And the night in which it was said,
‘A male child is conceived.’
Footnotes
- Job 3:2 Lit. answered
Job 3:1-3
New International Version
Job Speaks
3 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.(A) 2 He said:
3 “May the day of my birth perish,
and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’(B)
Job 10:19
New King James Version
19 I would have been as though I had not been.
I would have been carried from the womb to the grave.
Job 10:19
New International Version
19 If only I had never come into being,
or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!(A)
Jeremiah 20:14
New King James Version
14 (A)Cursed be the day in which I was born!
Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!
Jeremiah 20:14
New International Version
14 Cursed be the day I was born!(A)
May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
Jonah 4:3
New King James Version
3 (A)Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for (B)it is better for me to die than to live!”
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Jonah 4:3
New International Version
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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