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. |
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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. |
The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity. | Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. |
Do not say, “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. |
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. |
Just as you do not know how the breath comes to the bones in the mother's womb, 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. |
Banish anxiety from your mind, 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 mortals may not find out anything that will come after them. | 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. |
Words spoken by the wise bring them favor, but the lips of fools consume them. | Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious, but fools are consumed by their own lips. |