I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a person and his neighbor. This too is futility and striving after wind. | Then I came to realize that all toil and skill in work derive from one person’s envy of another. This also is vanity and a chase after the wind. |
Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. | Two are better than one: they earn a far greater reward for their toil. |
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For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up! | And if one should fall, his companion will help him up. How pathetic is the man who is alone and falls and has no one to assist him to his feet. |
And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. | And where a single man can be overcome, two together will be able to resist. A cord with three strands is not easily broken. |