Ecclesiastes 6:3

Bible in Basic English (1941)

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.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Job 3:16 : 16 Or as a child dead at birth I might never have come into existence; like young children who have not seen the light.
  • Eccl 4:3 : 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.
  • Jer 22:19 : 19 They will do to him what they do to the dead body of an ass; his body will be pulled out and placed on the earth outside the doors of Jerusalem.
  • 2 Kgs 9:35 : 35 And they went out to put her body into the earth, but nothing of her was to be seen, only the bones of her head, and her feet, and parts of her hands.
  • Isa 14:19-20 : 19 But you, like a birth before its time, are stretched out with no resting-place in the earth; clothed with the bodies of the dead who have been put to the sword, who go down to the lowest parts of the underworld; a dead body, crushed under foot. 20 As for your fathers, you will not be united with them in their resting-place, because you have been the cause of destruction to your land, and of death to your people; the seed of the evil-doer will have no place in the memory of man.
  • Gen 47:9 : 9 And Jacob said, The years of my wanderings have been a hundred and thirty; small in number and full of sorrow have been the years of my life, and less than the years of the wanderings of my fathers.
  • 1 Sam 2:20-21 : 20 And every year Eli gave Elkanah and his wife a blessing, saying, May the Lord give you offspring by this woman in exchange for the child you have given to the Lord. And they went back to their house. 21 And the Lord had mercy on Hannah and she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the young Samuel became older before the Lord.
  • Eccl 5:17-19 : 17 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. 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.
  • Jer 8:2 : 2 And they will put them out before the sun and the moon and all the stars of heaven, whose lovers and servants they have been, after whom they have gone, to whom they have made prayers, and to whom they have given worship: they will not be put together or placed in the earth; they will be waste on the face of the earth.
  • Jer 36:30 : 30 For this reason the Lord has said of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, He will have no son to take his place on the seat of David: his dead body will be put out to undergo the heat of the day and the cold of the night.
  • Matt 26:24 : 24 The Son of man goes, even as the Writings say of him: but a curse is on that man through whom the Son of man is given up; it would have been well for that man if he had never come into the world.
  • 2 Kgs 10:1 : 1 Now there were in Samaria seventy of Ahab's sons. And Jehu sent letters to Samaria, to the rulers of the town, and to the responsible men, and to those who had the care of the sons of Ahab, saying,
  • 1 Chr 28:5 : 5 And of all my sons (for the Lord has given me a great number of sons) he has made selection of Solomon to take his place on the seat of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel.
  • 2 Chr 11:21 : 21 Maacah, the daughter of Absalom, was dearer to Rehoboam than all his wives and his servant-wives: (for he had eighteen wives and sixty servant-wives, and was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.)
  • Esth 5:11 : 11 And he gave them an account of the glories of his wealth, and the number of children he had, and the ways in which he had been honoured by the king, and how he had put him over the captains and servants of the king.
  • Esth 7:10 : 10 So Haman was put to death by hanging him on the pillar he had made for Mordecai. Then the king's wrath became less.
  • Esth 9:14-15 : 14 And the king said that this was to be done, and the order was given out in Shushan, and the hanging of Haman's ten sons was effected. 15 For the Jews who were in Shushan came together again on the fourteenth day of the month Adar and put to death three hundred men in Shushan; but they put not a hand on their goods.
  • Ps 58:8 : 8 Let them be like an after-birth which is turned to water and comes to an end; like the fruit of a woman who gives birth before her time, let them not see the sun.
  • Ps 127:4-5 : 4 Like arrows in the hand of a man of war, are the children of the young. 5 Happy is the man who has a good store of them; he will not be put to shame, but his cause will be supported by them against his haters.
  • Prov 17:6 : 6 Children's children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children is their fathers.
  • Gen 33:5 : 5 Then Esau, lifting up his eyes, saw the women and the children, and said, Who are these with you? And he said, The children whom God in his mercy has given to your servant.

Similar Verses (AI)

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

  • Eccl 6:4-12
    9 verses
    80%

    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.

    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.

    10 That which is, has been named before, and of what man is there is knowledge. He has no power against one stronger than he.

    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 4:2-3
    2 verses
    77%

    2 So my praise was for the dead who have gone to their death, more than for the living who still have life.

    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.

  • 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 5:14-17
    4 verses
    75%

    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.

    17 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.

  • Eccl 11:8
    74%

    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.

  • Eccl 4:8
    73%

    8 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.

  • Eccl 4:15-16
    2 verses
    72%

    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 3:22
    72%

    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 1:3
    72%

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

  • Job 27:14-15
    2 verses
    72%

    14 If his children are increased, it is for the sword; and his offspring have not enough bread.

    15 When those of his house who are still living come to their end by disease, they are not put into the earth, and their widows are not weeping for them.

  • Eccl 9:3
    72%

    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.

  • Eccl 2:21-26
    6 verses
    71%

    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.

  • Job 3:21
    71%

    21 To those whose desire is for death, but it comes not; who are searching for it more than for secret wealth;

  • Job 21:21
    71%

    21 For what interest has he in his house after him, when the number of his months is ended?

  • Job 14:1
    71%

    1 As for man, the son of woman, his days are short and full of trouble.

  • Eccl 7:1-2
    2 verses
    71%

    1 A good name is better than oil of great price, and the day of death than the day of birth.

    2 It is better to go to the house of weeping, than to go to the house of feasting; because that is the end of every man, and the living will take it to their hearts.

  • Eccl 3:19
    71%

    19 Because the fate of the sons of men and the fate of the beasts is the same. As is the death of one so is the death of the other, and all have one spirit. Man is not higher than the beasts; because all is to no purpose.

  • Job 3:3
    70%

    3 Let destruction take the day of my birth, and the night on which it was said, A man child has come into the world.

  • Eccl 4:13
    70%

    13 A young man who is poor and wise is better than a king who is old and foolish and will not be guided by the wisdom of others.

  • Job 3:16
    70%

    16 Or as a child dead at birth I might never have come into existence; like young children who have not seen the light.

  • Eccl 8:15
    70%

    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.

  • Job 21:25
    70%

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

  • Eccl 3:12
    70%

    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.

  • Eccl 4:6
    69%

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

  • Prov 30:16
    69%

    16 The underworld, and the woman without a child; the earth which never has enough water, and the fire which never says, Enough.

  • Eccl 2:19
    69%

    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.

  • Eccl 2:17
    69%

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

  • Eccl 9:9
    69%

    9 Have joy with the woman of your love all the days of your foolish life which he gives you under the sun. Because that is your part in life and in your work which you do under the sun.