Verse 2

It is futile for you to rise early and stay up late, eating the bread of toil, for He grants sleep to His beloved.

Other Translations

Referenced Verses

  • Ps 4:8 : 8 You have put more joy in my heart than when their grain and new wine abound.
  • Eccl 5:12 : 12 I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners.
  • Ps 39:5-6 : 5 LORD, let me know my end and the number of my days, so I may understand how fleeting my life is. 6 Behold, You have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before You. Surely, every man is but a breath. Selah.
  • Ps 60:5 : 5 You have shown your people hard things; you have made us drink the wine of staggering.
  • Prov 31:15-18 : 15 She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls. 16 She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. 17 She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. 18 She senses that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.
  • Eccl 1:14 : 14 I have seen all the deeds that are done under the sun; they are all meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
  • Eccl 2:1-9 : 1 I said to myself, 'Come now, I will test you with pleasure to see what is good.' But behold, this too was meaningless. 2 I said of laughter, 'It is madness,' and of joy, 'What does it accomplish?' 3 I explored with my heart how to cheer my body with wine, while my mind guided me with wisdom, and how to embrace folly until I could see what is good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives. 4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks for myself and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I made reservoirs of water to irrigate groves of flourishing trees. 7 I acquired male and female servants and had other servants born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem who had come before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered male and female singers for myself, and the delights of men—many concubines. 9 I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom stayed with me. 10 Anything my eyes desired, I did not withhold from them; I did not keep my heart from any pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, for this was my reward for all my efforts. 11 Yet when I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, behold, everything was meaningless—a chasing after the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.
  • Eccl 2:20-23 : 20 So I turned my heart to despair over all the hard work with which I had labored under the sun. 21 For there is a person who labors with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, but then must leave everything to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What does a person gain from all their labor and from the striving of their heart under the sun? 23 All their days are full of sorrow, and their work is filled with grief; even at night their mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
  • Eccl 4:8 : 8 There was a man all alone. He had no son or brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. 'For whom am I toiling,' he asked, 'and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?' This too is meaningless—a miserable business!
  • Eccl 6:7 : 7 All human toil is for their mouth, yet their appetite is never satisfied.
  • Jer 31:26 : 26 At this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep was pleasant to me.
  • Ezek 34:25 : 25 I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wild animals, so they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forests.
  • Gen 3:17-19 : 17 To Adam He said, 'Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, "You must not eat from it," cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.' 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread until you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you will return.
  • Job 11:18 : 18 You will feel secure, because there is hope; you will look around and rest safely.
  • Ps 3:5 : 5 I call out to the LORD with my voice, and He answers me from His holy mountain. Selah.
  • Acts 12:5-6 : 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church fervently prayed to God for him. 6 The night before Herod was to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while guards stood watch in front of the door of the prison.