| And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—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. |
| For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. | There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. |
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| For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! | 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. |
| Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. | Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions. |
| He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. | Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. |
| 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. |
| As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. | As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. |
| Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. | So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless. |
| In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. | When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future. |
| For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. | For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. |
