Ecclesiastes 4:8

American Standard Version (1901)

There 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.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Prov 27:20 : 20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; And the eyes of man are never satisfied.
  • Eccl 1:8 : 8 All things are full of weariness; man cannot utter [it] : the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
  • Eccl 1:13 : 13 And 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.
  • Gen 2:18 : 18 And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.
  • Ps 39:6 : 6 Surely every man walketh in a vain show; Surely they are disquieted in vain: He heapeth up [riches], and knoweth not who shall gather them.
  • 1 John 2:16 : 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
  • Eccl 4:9-9 : 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. 10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, and hath not another to lift him up. 11 Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one be warm [alone] ? 12 And if a man prevail against him that is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
  • Eccl 5:10 : 10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance, with increase: this also is vanity.
  • Isa 5:8 : 8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no room, and ye be made to dwell alone in the midst of the land!
  • Isa 44:19-20 : 19 And none calleth to mind, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? 20 He feedeth on ashes; a deceived heart hath turned him aside; and he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
  • Isa 55:2 : 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
  • Isa 56:3-5 : 3 Neither let the foreigner, that hath joined himself to Jehovah, speak, saying, Jehovah will surely separate me from his people; neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. 4 For thus saith Jehovah of the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and hold fast my covenant: 5 Unto them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
  • Hab 2:5-9 : 5 Yea, moreover, wine is treacherous, a haughty man, that keepeth not at home; who enlargeth his desire as Sheol, and he is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all peoples. 6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and that ladeth himself with pledges! [ 7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booty unto them? 8 Because thou hast plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder thee, because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all that dwell therein. 9 Woe to him that getteth an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil!
  • Matt 11:28 : 28 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
  • Luke 12:20 : 20 But God said unto him, Thou foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee; and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be?
  • Gen 15:2-3 : 2 And Abram said, O Lord Jehovah, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and he that shall be possessor of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? 3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
  • Eccl 2:23 : 23 For 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.

Similar Verses (AI)

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

  • Eccl 4:6-7
    2 verses
    81%

    6Better is a handful, with quietness, than two handfuls with labor and striving after wind.

    7Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.

  • Eccl 2:10-11
    2 verses
    81%

    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.

  • Eccl 4:15-16
    2 verses
    81%

    15I saw all the living that walk under the sun, that they were with the youth, the second, that stood up in his stead.

    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 2:17-26
    10 verses
    81%

    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 4:3-4
    2 verses
    80%

    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 1:2-3
    2 verses
    80%

    2Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

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

  • Eccl 1:13-14
    2 verses
    77%

    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 4:9
    77%

    9Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.

  • Eccl 6:11-12
    2 verses
    77%

    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 5:14-16
    3 verses
    77%

    14and those riches perish by evil adventure; and if he hath begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand.

    15As he came forth from his mother's womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand.

    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 3:9-10
    2 verses
    77%

    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.

  • Eccl 6:7-9
    3 verses
    76%

    7All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.

    8For what advantage hath the wise more than the fool? [or] what hath the poor man, that knoweth how to walk before the living?

    9Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

  • Eccl 12:8
    76%

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

  • Eccl 3:22
    76%

    22Wherefore 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?

  • Eccl 8:16-17
    2 verses
    76%

    16When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes), [

    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 6:1-3
    3 verses
    76%

    1There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy upon men:

    2a man to whom God giveth riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacketh nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but an alien eateth it; this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

    3If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul be not filled with good, and moreover he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he:

  • Eccl 1:8
    75%

    8All things are full of weariness; man cannot utter [it] : the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

  • Ps 39:6
    75%

    6Surely every man walketh in a vain show; Surely they are disquieted in vain: He heapeth up [riches], and knoweth not who shall gather them.

  • Eccl 8:14
    75%

    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.

  • Eccl 5:10-11
    2 verses
    74%

    10He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance, with increase: this also is vanity.

    11When goods increase, they are increased that eat them; and what advantage is there to the owner thereof, save the beholding [of them] with his eyes?

  • Eccl 8:9
    73%

    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 3:12
    73%

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

  • Eccl 6:5
    72%

    5moreover it hath not seen the sun nor known it; this hath rest rather than the other:

  • Eccl 9:10
    72%

    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 11:8
    72%

    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.