Ecclesiastes 4:8

Bible in Basic English (1941)

It is one who is by himself, without a second, and without son or brother; but there is no end to all his work, and he has never enough of wealth. For whom, then, am I working and keeping myself from pleasure? This again is to no purpose, and a bitter work.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Prov 27:20 : 20 The underworld and Abaddon are never full, and the eyes of man have never enough.
  • Eccl 1:8 : 8 All things are full of weariness; man may not give their story: the eye has never enough of its seeing, or the ear of its hearing.
  • Eccl 1:13 : 13 And I gave my heart to searching out in wisdom all things which are done under heaven: it is a hard thing which God has put on the sons of men to do.
  • Gen 2:18 : 18 And the Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be by himself: I will make one like himself as a help to him
  • Ps 39:6 : 6 Truly, every man goes on his way like an image; he is troubled for no purpose: he makes a great store of wealth, and has no knowledge of who will get it.
  • 1 John 2:16 : 16 Because everything in the world, the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father but of the world.
  • Eccl 4:9-9 : 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their work. 10 And if one has a fall, the other will give him a hand; but unhappy is the man who is by himself, because he has no helper. 11 So again, if two are sleeping together they are warm, but how may one be warm by himself? 12 And two attacked by one would be safe, and three cords twisted together are not quickly broken.
  • Eccl 5:10 : 10 When goods are increased, the number of those who take of them is increased; and what profit has the owner but to see them?
  • Isa 5:8 : 8 Cursed are those who are joining house to house, and putting field to field, till there is no more living-space for any but themselves in all the land!
  • Isa 44:19-20 : 19 And no one takes note, no one has enough knowledge or wisdom to say, I have put part of it in the fire, and made bread on it; I have had a meal of the flesh cooked with it: and am I now to make the rest of it into a false god? am I to go down on my face before a bit of wood? 20 As for him whose food is the dust of a dead fire, he has been turned from the way by a twisted mind, so that he is unable to keep himself safe by saying, What I have here in my hand is false.
  • Isa 55:2 : 2 Why do you give your money for what is not bread, and the fruit of your work for what will not give you pleasure? Give ear to me, so that your food may be good, and you may have the best in full measure.
  • Isa 56:3-5 : 3 And let not the man from a strange country, who has been joined to the Lord, say, The Lord will certainly put a division between me and his people: and let not the unsexed man say, See, I am a dry tree. 4 For the Lord says, As for the unsexed who keep my Sabbaths, and give their hearts to pleasing me, and keep their agreement with me: 5 I will give to them in my house, and inside my walls, a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an eternal name which will not be cut off.
  • Hab 2:5-9 : 5 A curse on the cruel and false one! the man full of pride, who never has enough; who makes his desires wide as the underworld! he is like death; he is never full, but he makes all nations come to him, getting all peoples together to himself. 6 Will not all these take up a word of shame against him and a bitter saying against him, and say, A curse on him who goes on taking what is not his and is weighted down with the property of debtors! 7 Will not your creditors suddenly be moved against you, and your troublers get up from their sleep, and you will be to them like goods taken in war? 8 Because you have taken their goods from great nations, all the rest of the peoples will take your goods from you; because of men's blood and violent acts against the land and the town and all who are living in it. 9 A curse on him who gets evil profits for his family, so that he may put his resting-place on high and be safe from the hand of the wrongdoer!
  • Matt 11:28 : 28 Come to me, all you who are troubled and weighted down with care, and I will give you rest.
  • Luke 12:20 : 20 But God said to him, You foolish one, tonight I will take your soul from you, and who then will be the owner of all the things which you have got together?
  • Gen 15:2-3 : 2 And Abram said, What will you give me? for I have no child and this Eliezer of Damascus will have all my wealth after me. 3 And Abram said, You have given me no child, and a servant in my house will get the heritage.
  • Eccl 2:23 : 23 All his days are sorrow, and his work is full of grief. Even in the night his heart has no rest. This again is to no purpose.

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%

    6 One hand full of rest is better than two hands full of trouble and desire for wind.

    7 Then I came back, and I saw an example of what is to no purpose under the sun.

  • Eccl 2:10-11
    2 verses
    81%

    10 And nothing which was desired by my eyes did I keep from them; I did not keep any joy from my heart, because my heart took pleasure in all my work, and this was my reward.

    11 Then I saw all the works which my hands had made, and everything I had been working to do; and I saw that all was to no purpose and desire for wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

  • Eccl 4:15-16
    2 verses
    81%

    15 I saw all the living under the sun round the young man who was to be ruler in place of the king.

    16 There was no end of all the people, of all those whose head he was, but they who come later will have no delight in him. This again is to no purpose and desire for wind.

  • Eccl 2:17-26
    10 verses
    81%

    17 So I was hating life, because everything under the sun was evil to me: all is to no purpose and desire for wind.

    18 Hate had I for all my work which I had done, because the man who comes after me will have its fruits.

    19 And who is to say if that man will be wise or foolish? But he will have power over all my work which I have done and in which I have been wise under the sun. This again is to no purpose.

    20 So my mind was turned to grief for all the trouble I had taken and all my wisdom under the sun.

    21 Because there is a man whose work has been done with wisdom, with knowledge, and with an expert hand; but one who has done nothing for it will have it for his heritage. This again is to no purpose and a great evil.

    22 What does a man get for all his work, and for the weight of care with which he has done his work under the sun?

    23 All his days are sorrow, and his work is full of grief. Even in the night his heart has no rest. This again is to no purpose.

    24 There is nothing better for a man than taking meat and drink, and having delight in his work. This again I saw was from the hand of God.

    25 Who may take food or have pleasure without him?

    26 To the man with whom he is pleased, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of getting goods together and storing up wealth, to give to him in whom God has pleasure. This again is to no purpose and desire for wind.

  • Eccl 4:3-4
    2 verses
    80%

    3 Yes, happier than the dead or the living seemed he who has not ever been, who has not seen the evil which is done under the sun.

    4 And I saw that the cause of all the work and of everything which is done well was man's envy of his neighbour. This again is to no purpose and a desire for wind.

  • Eccl 1:2-3
    2 verses
    80%

    2 All is to no purpose, said the Preacher, all the ways of man are to no purpose.

    3 What is a man profited by all his work which he does under the sun?

  • Eccl 1:13-14
    2 verses
    77%

    13 And I gave my heart to searching out in wisdom all things which are done under heaven: it is a hard thing which God has put on the sons of men to do.

    14 I have seen all the works which are done under the sun; all is to no purpose, and desire for wind.

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

  • Eccl 6:11-12
    2 verses
    77%

    11 There are words without number for increasing what is to no purpose, but what is man profited by them?

    12 Who is able to say what is good for man in life all the days of his foolish life which he goes through like a shade? who will say what is to be after him under the sun?

  • Eccl 5:14-16
    3 verses
    77%

    14 As he came from his mother at birth, so does he go again; he gets from his work no reward which he may take away in his hand.

    15 And this again is a great evil, that in all points as he came so will he go; and what profit has he in working for the wind?

    16 All his days are in the dark, and he has much sorrow, pain, disease, and trouble.

  • Eccl 3:9-10
    2 verses
    77%

    9 What profit has the worker in the work which he does?

    10 I saw the work which God has put on the sons of man.

  • Eccl 6:7-9
    3 verses
    76%

    7 All the work of man is for his mouth, and still he has a desire for food.

    8 What have the wise more than the foolish? and what has the poor man by walking wisely before the living?

    9 What the eyes see is better than the wandering of desire. This is to no purpose and a desire for wind.

  • 8 All things are to no purpose, says the Preacher, all is to no purpose.

  • 22 So I saw that there is nothing better than for a man to have joy in his work--because that is his reward. Who will make him see what will come after him?

  • Eccl 8:16-17
    2 verses
    76%

    16 When I gave my mind to the knowledge of wisdom and to seeing the business which is done on the earth (and there are those whose eyes see not sleep by day or by night),

    17 Then I saw all the work of God, and that man may not get knowledge of the work which is done under the sun; because, if a man gives hard work to the search he will not get knowledge, and even if the wise man seems to be coming to the end of his search, still he will be without knowledge.

  • Eccl 6:1-3
    3 verses
    76%

    1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is hard on men;

    2 A man to whom God gives money, wealth, and honour so that he has all his desires but God does not give him the power to have joy of it, and a strange man takes it. This is to no purpose and an evil disease.

    3 If a man has a hundred children, and his life is long so that the days of his years are great in number, but his soul takes no pleasure in good, and he is not honoured at his death; I say that a birth before its time is better than he.

  • 8 All things are full of weariness; man may not give their story: the eye has never enough of its seeing, or the ear of its hearing.

  • 6 Truly, every man goes on his way like an image; he is troubled for no purpose: he makes a great store of wealth, and has no knowledge of who will get it.

  • 14 There is a thing which is to no purpose done on the earth: that there are good men to whom is given the same punishment as those who are evil, and there are evil men who get the reward of the good. I say that this again is to no purpose.

  • Eccl 5:10-11
    2 verses
    74%

    10 When goods are increased, the number of those who take of them is increased; and what profit has the owner but to see them?

    11 The sleep of a working man is sweet, if he has little food or much; but to him who is full, sleep will not come.

  • 9 All this have I seen, and have given my heart to all the work which is done under the sun: there is a time when man has power over man for his destruction.

  • 12 I am certain that there is nothing better for a man than to be glad, and to do good while life is in him.

  • 5 Yes, it saw not the sun, and it had no knowledge; it is better with this than with the other.

  • 10 Whatever comes to your hand to do with all your power, do it because there is no work, or thought, or knowledge, or wisdom in the place of the dead to which you are going.

  • 8 But even if a man's life is long and he has joy in all his years, let him keep in mind the dark days, because they will be great in number. Whatever may come is to no purpose.