Ecclesiastes 4:1-3

New International Reader's Version

I saw the tears of those who are suffering.
    They don’t have anyone to comfort them.
Power is on the side of those who treat them badly.
    Those who are suffering don’t have anyone to comfort them.
² Then I announced that those
    who have already died
are happier than those
    who are still alive.
³ But someone who hasn’t been born yet
    is better off than the dead or the living.
That’s because that person hasn’t seen the evil things
    that are done on earth.