There was a man all alone. He had no son or brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. 'For whom am I toiling,' he asked, 'and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?' This too is meaningless—a miserable business!
There is one alone, and there is not a sond; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.
There is one alone, without a second; yes, he has neither child nor brother, yet there is no end to all his labor, nor is his eye satisfied with riches, nor does he ask, 'For whom do I labor and deprive my soul of good?' This is also vanity, yes, it is a grievous toil.
There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.
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.
There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.
There is one man, no mo but himself alone, hauynge nether childe ner brother: yet is there no ende of his carefull trauayle, his eyes can not be satisfied with riches, (yet doth he not remembre himself, & saye:) For whom do I take soch trauayle? For whose pleasure do I thus consume awaye my lyfe? This is also a vayne and miserable thinge.
There is one alone, & there is not a second, which hath neither sonne nor brother, yet is there none end of all his trauaile, neither can his eye be satisfied with riches: neither doeth he thinke, For whome doe I trauaile and defraude my soule of pleasure? this also is vanitie, and this is an euill trauaile.
There is one man, no mo but himselfe alone, hauing neither childe nor brother, yet is there no ende of his carefull trauayle, his eyes can not be satisfied with riches: yet saith he not for whom do I take such trauayle? For whose pleasure do I thus consume away my life? This is also a vayne and miserable thyng.
There is one [alone], and [there is] not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet [is there] no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither [saith he], For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This [is] also vanity, yea, it [is] a sore travail.
There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. For whom then, do I labor, and deprive my soul of enjoyment? This also is vanity, yes, it is a miserable business.
There is one, and there is not a second; even son or brother he hath not, and there is no end to all his labour! His eye also is not satisfied with riches, and `he saith not', `For whom am I labouring and bereaving my soul of good?' This also is vanity, it is a sad travail.
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.
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.
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.
There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. "For whom then, do I labor, and deprive my soul of enjoyment?" This also is vanity. Yes, it is a miserable business.
A man who is all alone with no companion, he has no children nor siblings; yet there is no end to all his toil, and he is never satisfied with riches. He laments,“For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is futile and a burdensome task!
These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.
6Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.
7Again, I turned and saw meaninglessness under the sun.
10Anything my eyes desired, I did not withhold from them; I did not keep my heart from any pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, for this was my reward for all my efforts.
11Yet when I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, behold, everything was meaningless—a chasing after the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.
15I saw all the living who walk under the sun following the youth, the second one, who replaces him.
16There is no end to all the people who were before them, yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
17So I hated life, because the work done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
18I hated all my toil under the sun because I must leave it to the one who comes after me.
19And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will rule over all the fruit of my labor that I have worked for under the sun. This too is meaningless.
20So I turned my heart to despair over all the hard work with which I had labored under the sun.
21For there is a person who labors with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, but then must leave everything to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.
22What does a person gain from all their labor and from the striving of their heart under the sun?
23All their days are full of sorrow, and their work is filled with grief; even at night their mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
24There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and find enjoyment in their work. This too, I realized, is from the hand of God.
25For who can eat or who can enjoy life apart from Him?
26To the person who pleases Him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner, He gives the task of gathering and storing wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
3But better than both is the one who has not yet been born, who has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.
4And I saw that all toil and all skill in work are driven by one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
2“Utterly meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
3What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?
13I set my heart to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a burdensome task God has given to the human race to occupy themselves with!
14I have seen all the deeds that are done under the sun; they are all meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
9Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.
11The more words, the more meaningless—and what advantage does that bring to anyone?
12For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few days of their fleeting life? They pass like a shadow. Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?
14As everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, so they depart naked as they came. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands.
15This too is a grievous evil: As a man comes, so he departs, and what does he gain from all his labor for the wind?
16Throughout his days, he eats in darkness, with great frustration, sickness, and anger.
9What does the worker gain from all their toil?
10I have seen the burden that God has laid on the human race.
7All human toil is for their mouth, yet their appetite is never satisfied.
8What advantage has the wise person over the fool? What does the poor person gain by knowing how to conduct themselves before the living?
9Better is what the eyes see than the wandering of desire. This too is meaningless and a chasing after the wind.
8'Utter futility,' says the Teacher. 'Everything is futile!'
22So I saw that there is nothing better than for a person to rejoice in their work, for that is their lot. Who can bring them to see what will happen after them?
16When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to observe the work that is done on earth, even though people do not see sleep with their eyes day or night,
17then I saw all the work of God, that no one can understand the work that is done under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can comprehend it. Even if the wise claim to know, they cannot truly understand it.
1There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it is great upon humanity.
2God gives a man wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires. Yet God does not enable him to enjoy them, but instead a foreigner eats them. This is meaningless and a grievous misfortune.
3A man may father a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy life's good things and receives no proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
8All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
6Behold, You have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before You. Surely, every man is but a breath. Selah.
14There is a futility that takes place on the earth: righteous people receive what the wicked deserve, and wicked people receive what the righteous deserve. I said, 'This too is vanity.'
10As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them?
11The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but the abundance of the rich permits them no sleep.
9I observed all this as I considered all the work done under the sun: a time when one man has power over another to hurt them.
12I know that there is nothing better for people than to rejoice and to do good while they live.
5Though it has never seen the sun or known anything, it has more rest than that man.
10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
8For if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in all of them, but let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. All that comes is meaningless.