| Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from one person's envy of another. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind. | 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. |
| Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. | Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. |
|
| For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. | If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. |
| And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken. | Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. |
