Ecclesiastes 3:22

American Standard Version (1901)

Wherefore I saw that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him [back] to see what shall be after him?

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Eccl 6:12 : 12 For who knoweth what is good for man in [his] life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
  • Eccl 8:7 : 7 for he knoweth not that which shall be; for who can tell him how it shall be?
  • Eccl 10:14 : 14 A fool also multiplieth words: [yet] man knoweth not what shall be; and that which shall be after him, who can tell him?
  • Eccl 2:24 : 24 There is nothing better for a man [than] that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.
  • Eccl 3:11-12 : 11 He hath made everything beautiful in its time: also he hath set eternity in their heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to do good so long as they live.
  • Phil 4:4-5 : 4 Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your forbearance be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
  • Eccl 11:9 : 9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
  • Dan 12:9-9 : 9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed till the time of the end. 10 Many shall purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but they that are wise shall understand.
  • Dan 12:13 : 13 But go thou thy way till the end be; for thou shalt rest, and shalt stand in thy lot, at the end of the days.
  • Matt 6:34 : 34 Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
  • Rom 12:11-12 : 11 in diligence not slothful; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing stedfastly in prayer;
  • Eccl 5:18-20 : 18 Behold, that which I have seen to be good and to be comely is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, wherein he laboreth under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath given him: for this is his portion. 19 Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor--this is the gift of God. 20 For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth [him] in the joy of his heart.
  • Eccl 8:15 : 15 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: for that shall abide with him in his labor [all] the days of his life which God hath given him under the sun.
  • Eccl 9:7-9 : 7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God hath already accepted thy works. 8 Let thy garments be always white; and let not thy head lack oil. 9 Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of thy life of vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all thy days of vanity: for that is thy portion in life, and in thy labor wherein thou laborest under the sun.
  • Eccl 9:12 : 12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
  • Deut 12:7 : 7 and there ye shall eat before Jehovah your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee.
  • Deut 12:18 : 18 but thou shalt eat them before Jehovah thy God in the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before Jehovah thy God in all that thou puttest thy hand unto.
  • Deut 26:10-11 : 10 And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which thou, O Jehovah, hast given me. And thou shalt set it down before Jehovah thy God, and worship before Jehovah thy God: 11 and thou shalt rejoice in all the good which Jehovah thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thy house, thou, and the Levite, and the sojourner that is in the midst of thee.
  • Deut 28:47 : 47 Because thou servedst not Jehovah thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things;
  • Job 14:21 : 21 His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; And they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.
  • Eccl 2:10-11 : 10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them; I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor; and this was my portion from all my labor. 11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Eccl 3:9-14
    6 verses
    87%

    9What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth?

    10I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.

    11He hath made everything beautiful in its time: also he hath set eternity in their heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end.

    12I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to do good so long as they live.

    13And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labor, is the gift of God.

    14I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it; and God hath done it, that men should fear before him.

  • Eccl 2:17-26
    10 verses
    86%

    17So I hated life, because the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind.

    18And I hated all my labor wherein I labored under the sun, seeing that I must leave it unto the man that shall be after me.

    19And who knoweth whether he will be a wise man or a fool? yet will he have rule over all my labor wherein I have labored, and wherein I have showed myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.

    20Therefore I turned about to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor wherein I had labored under the sun.

    21For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skilfulness; yet to a man that hath not labored therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

    22For what hath a man of all his labor, and of the striving of his heart, wherein he laboreth under the sun?

    23For all his days are [but] sorrows, and his travail is grief; yea, even in the night his heart taketh no rest. This also is vanity.

    24There is nothing better for a man [than] that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.

    25For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?

    26For to the man that pleaseth him [God] giveth wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that pleaseth God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

  • Eccl 8:14-15
    2 verses
    82%

    14There is a vanity which is done upon the earth, that there are righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.

    15Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: for that shall abide with him in his labor [all] the days of his life which God hath given him under the sun.

  • Eccl 5:18-20
    3 verses
    81%

    18Behold, that which I have seen to be good and to be comely is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, wherein he laboreth under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath given him: for this is his portion.

    19Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor--this is the gift of God.

    20For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth [him] in the joy of his heart.

  • Eccl 2:10-12
    3 verses
    80%

    10And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them; I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor; and this was my portion from all my labor.

    11Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

    12And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what [can] the man [do] that cometh after the king? [even] that which hath been done long ago.

  • Eccl 6:11-12
    2 verses
    80%

    11Seeing there are many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?

    12For who knoweth what is good for man in [his] life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?

  • Eccl 3:21
    80%

    21Who knoweth the spirit of man, whether it goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast, whether it goeth downward to the earth?

  • Eccl 1:3
    79%

    3What profit hath man of all his labor wherein he laboreth under the sun?

  • Eccl 4:3-4
    2 verses
    79%

    3yea, better than them both [did I esteem] him that hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

    4Then I saw all labor and every skilful work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

  • Eccl 8:17
    78%

    17then I beheld all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because however much a man labor to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea moreover, though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.

  • Eccl 9:9-10
    2 verses
    78%

    9Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of thy life of vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all thy days of vanity: for that is thy portion in life, and in thy labor wherein thou laborest under the sun.

    10Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do [it] with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, whither thou goest.

  • Eccl 2:1
    77%

    1I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also was vanity.

  • Eccl 4:16
    77%

    16There was no end of all the people, even of all them over whom he was: yet they that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

  • Eccl 3:18-19
    2 verses
    77%

    18I said in my heart, [It is] because of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are [but as] beasts.

    19For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; and man hath no preeminence above the beasts: for all is vanity.

  • Eccl 9:1
    77%

    1For all this I laid to my heart, even to explore all this: that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; whether it be love or hatred, man knoweth it not; all is before them.

  • Eccl 1:13-14
    2 verses
    76%

    13And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven: it is a sore travail that God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.

    14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

  • Eccl 4:7-8
    2 verses
    76%

    7Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.

    8There is one that is alone, and he hath not a second; yea, he hath neither son nor brother; yet is there no end of all his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with riches. For whom then, [saith he], do I labor, and deprive my soul of good? This also is vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.

  • Eccl 11:8-9
    2 verses
    75%

    8Yea, if a man live many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.

    9Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

  • Eccl 7:14
    75%

    14In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; yea, God hath made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything [that shall be] after him.

  • Eccl 8:9
    75%

    9All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: [there is] a time wherein one man hath power over another to his hurt.

  • Eccl 5:16
    75%

    16And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that he laboreth for the wind?

  • Eccl 1:9
    74%

    9That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

  • Eccl 12:8
    74%

    8Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity.

  • Eccl 2:15
    74%

    15Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then said I in my heart, that this also is vanity.