Ecclesiastes 4:4-6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
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]
6 Better is one handful with tranquility
than two with toil and a chase after wind!
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.
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