Ecclesiastes 8:16

KJV1611 – Modern English

When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the work that is done upon the earth (for there are those who neither day nor night see sleep with their eyes),

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Referenced Verses

  • Ps 127:2 : 2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for He gives His beloved sleep.
  • Eccl 1:13 : 13 And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this difficult task God has given to the children of man to be engaged with.
  • Eccl 2:23 : 23 For all his days are sorrowful, and his work is burdensome; even at night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
  • Eccl 4:8 : 8 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.
  • Eccl 5:12 : 12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.
  • Eccl 7:25 : 25 I applied my heart to know, to search, and to seek out wisdom and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even foolishness and madness.
  • Eccl 8:7 : 7 For he does not know what shall be; for who can tell him when it shall be?
  • Eccl 8:9 : 9 All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man rules over another to his own harm.
  • Gen 31:40 : 40 Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from my eyes.

Similar Verses (AI)

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

  • Eccl 8:17
    85%

    17Then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. Even though a man labors to seek it out, he shall not find it; moreover, though a wise man thinks to know it, he shall not be able to find it.

  • Eccl 1:13-14
    2 verses
    82%

    13And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this difficult task God has given to the children of man to be engaged with.

    14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

  • Eccl 1:16-18
    3 verses
    80%

    16I communed with my own heart, saying, Look, I have attained great stature, and gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem: yes, my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

    17And I set my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is a striving after wind.

    18For in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

  • Eccl 7:25
    79%

    25I applied my heart to know, to search, and to seek out wisdom and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even foolishness and madness.

  • Eccl 2:3
    78%

    3I searched in my heart to give myself to wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what is good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.

  • Eccl 2:19-26
    8 verses
    78%

    19And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I have labored and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.

    20Therefore I turned my heart to despair over all the labor which I had done under the sun.

    21For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill. Yet he must leave his inheritance to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.

    22For what has man from all his labor, and of the striving of his heart with which he has labored under the sun?

    23For all his days are sorrowful, and his work is burdensome; even at night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.

    24There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy the good of his labor. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God.

    25For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?

    26For God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to the man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the task of gathering and collecting, only to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

  • Eccl 2:10-17
    8 verses
    77%

    10And whatever my eyes desired, I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor; and this was my reward from all my labor.

    11Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor I had toiled to do; and behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

    12I turned to consider wisdom, madness, and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done.

    13Then I saw that wisdom excels folly just as light excels darkness.

    14The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I myself perceived that the same event happens to them all.

    15So I said in my heart, "As it happens to the fool, so it happens even to me. And why was I then more wise?" Then I said in my heart, "This also is vanity."

    16For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, since what now is will all be forgotten in the days to come. And how does the wise man die? Just like the fool.

    17Therefore I hated life, because the work that was done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

  • Eccl 9:13
    76%

    13This wisdom I have seen also under the sun, and it seemed great to me:

  • Eccl 8:9
    76%

    9All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man rules over another to his own harm.

  • Eccl 9:1
    75%

    1For all this I considered in my heart, even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God. No one knows either love or hatred by all that is before them.

  • Eccl 1:8
    75%

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

  • Eccl 8:14-15
    2 verses
    75%

    14There is a vanity which is done upon the earth: there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.

    15So I commended joy, because a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor the days of his life, which God gives him under the sun.

  • Eccl 9:10
    74%

    10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave where you go.

  • Eccl 4:7-8
    2 verses
    74%

    7Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.

    8There 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.

  • Eccl 3:12
    74%

    12I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives.

  • Eccl 6:11-12
    2 verses
    74%

    11Since there are many things that increase vanity, what advantage does man have?

    12For who knows what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spends as a shadow? For who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun?

  • Eccl 3:22
    74%

    22Therefore I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who can bring him to see what shall be after him?

  • Eccl 3:10
    74%

    10I have seen the task which God has given to the sons of men to be occupied with.

  • Eccl 6:8-9
    2 verses
    73%

    8For what has the wise more than the fool? what does the poor have, who knows to walk before the living?

    9Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire: this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

  • Eccl 1:3
    73%

    3What profit does a man have from all his labor which he does under the sun?

  • Job 31:26
    73%

    26If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;

  • Job 4:13
    73%

    13In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,

  • Eccl 3:18
    73%

    18I said in my heart concerning the condition of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are like beasts.

  • Eccl 6:5
    73%

    5Moreover, it has not seen the sun nor known anything: this has more rest than the other.

  • Prov 24:32
    73%

    32Then I saw, and considered it well; I looked upon it, and received instruction.

  • Eccl 4:4
    72%

    4Again, I considered all the toil and every right work, that for this a man is envied by his neighbor. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

  • Eccl 5:12
    72%

    12The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.

  • Eccl 5:18
    72%

    18Behold, what I have seen: it is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life, which God gives him; for it is his portion.

  • Eccl 11:8
    72%

    8But if a man lives many years, and rejoices in them all, let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. All that comes is vanity.