Ecclesiastes 5:17

Bible in Basic English (1941)

This is what I have seen: it is good and fair for a man to take meat and drink and to have joy in all his work under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; that is his reward.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Ps 127:2 : 2 It is of no use for you to get up early, and to go late to your rest, with the bread of sorrow for your food; for the Lord gives to his loved ones in sleep.
  • Prov 1:27-29 : 27 When your fear comes on you like a storm, and your trouble like a rushing wind; when pain and sorrow come on you. 28 Then I will give no answer to their cries; searching for me early, they will not see me: 29 For they were haters of knowledge, and did not give their hearts to the fear of the Lord:
  • Ezek 4:16-17 : 16 And he said to me, Son of man, see, I will take away from Jerusalem her necessary bread: they will take their bread by weight and with care, measuring out their drinking-water with fear and wonder: 17 So that they may be in need of bread and water and be wondering at one another, wasting away in their sin.
  • Acts 12:23 : 23 And straight away the angel of the Lord sent a disease on him, because he did not give the glory to God: and his flesh was wasted away by worms, and so he came to his end.
  • 1 Cor 11:30-32 : 30 For this cause a number of you are feeble and ill, and a number are dead. 31 But if we were true judges of ourselves, punishment would not come on us. 32 But if punishment does come, it is sent by the Lord, so that we may be safe when the world is judged.
  • Gen 3:17 : 17 And to Adam he said, Because you gave ear to the voice of your wife and took of the fruit of the tree which I said you were not to take, the earth is cursed on your account; in pain you will get your food from it all your life.
  • 1 Kgs 17:12 : 12 Then she said, By the life of the Lord your God, I have nothing but a little meal in my store, and a drop of oil in the bottle; and now I am getting two sticks together so that I may go in and make it ready for me and my son, so that we may have a meal before our death.
  • 2 Kgs 1:2 : 2 Now Ahaziah had a fall from the window of his room in Samaria, and was ill. And he sent men, and said to them, Put a question to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, about the outcome of my disease, to see if I will get well or not.
  • 2 Kgs 1:6 : 6 And they said to him, On our way we had a meeting with a man who said, Go back to the king who sent you and say to him, The Lord says, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you send to put a question to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? For this reason, you will not come down from the bed on to which you have gone up, but death will certainly come to you.
  • 2 Kgs 5:27 : 27 Because of what you have done, the disease of Naaman the leper will take you in its grip, and your seed after you, for ever. And he went out from before him a leper as white as snow.
  • 2 Chr 16:10-12 : 10 Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, burning with wrath against him because of this thing. And at the same time Asa was cruel to some of the people. 11 Now the acts of Asa, first and last, are recorded in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his rule, Asa had a very bad disease of the feet; but he did not go to the Lord for help in his disease, but to medical men.
  • 2 Chr 24:24-25 : 24 For though the army of Aram was only a small one, the Lord gave a very great army into their hands, because they had given up the Lord, the God of their fathers. So they put into effect the punishment of Joash. 25 And when they had gone away from him, (for he was broken with disease,) his servants made a secret design against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they put him to death on his bed; and they put his body into the earth in the town of David, but not in the resting-place of the kings.
  • Job 21:25 : 25 And another comes to his end with a bitter soul, without ever tasting good.
  • Ps 78:33 : 33 So their days were wasted like a breath, and their years in trouble.
  • Ps 90:7-9 : 7 We are burned up by the heat of your passion, and troubled by your wrath. 8 You have put our evil doings before you, our secret sins in the light of your face. 9 For all our days have gone by in your wrath; our years come to an end like a breath. 10 The measure of our life is seventy years; and if through strength it may be eighty years, its pride is only trouble and sorrow, for it comes to an end and we are quickly gone. 11 Who has knowledge of the power of your wrath, or who takes note of the weight of your passion?
  • Ps 102:9 : 9 I have had dust for bread and my drink has been mixed with weeping:

Similar Verses (AI)

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

  • Eccl 2:20-26
    7 verses
    81%

    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 5:18-19
    2 verses
    80%

    18 Every man to whom God has given money and wealth and the power to have pleasure in it and to do his part and have joy in his work: this is given by God.

    19 He will not give much thought to the days of his life; because God lets him be taken up with the joy of his heart.

  • Eccl 5:13-16
    4 verses
    80%

    13 And I saw the destruction of his wealth by an evil chance; and when he became the father of a son he had nothing in his hand.

    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 11:8
    77%

    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.

  • Job 21:25
    76%

    25 And another comes to his end with a bitter soul, without ever tasting good.

  • Job 15:20-21
    2 verses
    76%

    20 The evil man is in pain all his days, and the number of the years stored up for the cruel is small.

    21 A sound of fear is in his ears; in time of peace destruction will come on him:

  • Job 14:22
    76%

    22 Only his flesh still has pain, and his soul is sad.

  • Job 3:20
    75%

    20 Why does he give light to him who is in trouble, and life to the bitter in soul;

  • Eccl 6:4-7
    4 verses
    75%

    4 In wind it came and to the dark it will go, and with the dark will its name be covered.

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

    6 And though he goes on living a thousand years twice over and does not see good, are not the two going to the same place?

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

  • Eccl 7:14-15
    2 verses
    75%

    14 In the day of wealth have joy, but in the day of evil take thought: God has put the one against the other, so that man may not be certain what will be after him.

    15 These two have I seen in my life which is to no purpose: a good man coming to his end in his righteousness, and an evil man whose days are long in his evil-doing.

  • Eccl 6:1-2
    2 verses
    75%

    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.

  • Eccl 2:17
    75%

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

  • Job 33:19-21
    3 verses
    74%

    19 Pain is sent on him as a punishment, while he is on his bed; there is no end to the trouble in his bones;

    20 He has no desire for food, and his soul is turned away from delicate meat;

    21 His flesh is so wasted away, that it may not be seen, and his bones. ...

  • Job 15:23
    74%

    23 He is wandering about in search of bread, saying, Where is it? and he is certain that the day of trouble is ready for him:

  • Eccl 8:15
    73%

    15 So I gave praise to joy, because there is nothing better for a man to do under the sun than to take meat and drink and be happy; for that will be with him in his work all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.

  • Prov 15:15
    73%

    15 All the days of the troubled are evil; but he whose heart is glad has an unending feast.

  • Prov 5:11
    73%

    11 And you will be full of grief at the end of your life, when your flesh and your body are wasted;

  • Eccl 9:3
    73%

    3 This is evil in all things which are done under the sun: that there is one fate for all, and the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; while they have life their hearts are foolish, and after that--to the dead.

  • Job 21:17
    72%

    17 How frequently is the light of the evil-doers put out, or does trouble come on them? how frequently does his wrath take them with cords?

  • Eccl 6:12
    72%

    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?

  • Job 18:6
    72%

    6 The light is dark in his tent, and the light shining over him is put out.

  • Amos 5:20
    72%

    20 Will not the day of the Lord be dark and not light? even very dark, with no light shining in it?

  • Job 20:22
    72%

    22 Even when his wealth is great, he is full of care, for the hand of everyone who is in trouble is turned against him.

  • Job 21:20
    72%

    20 Let his eyes see his trouble, and let him be full of the wrath of the Ruler of all!

  • Eccl 1:3
    72%

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

  • Job 18:18
    72%

    18 He is sent away from the light into the dark; he is forced out of the world.

  • Eccl 4:4
    71%

    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.

  • Job 5:14
    71%

    14 In the daytime it becomes dark for them, and in the sunlight they go feeling about as if it was night.

  • Eccl 3:12-13
    2 verses
    71%

    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.

    13 And for every man to take food and drink, and have joy in all his work, is a reward from God.

  • Job 17:7
    71%

    7 My eyes have become dark because of my pain, and all my body is wasted to a shade.