Ecclesiastes 4:2
Therefore I praised the dead who have been long dead more than the living who are yet alive.
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Referenced Verses
- Eccl 2:17 : 17 So I hated life, because the work that is worked under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
- Eccl 9:4-6 : 4 For to him who is joined with all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead don't know anything, neither do they have any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy has perished long ago; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.
- Job 3:11-26 : 11 "Why didn't I die from the womb? Why didn't I give up the spirit when my mother bore me? 12 Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breast, that I should nurse? 13 For now should I have lain down and been quiet. I should have slept, then I would have been at rest, 14 with kings and counselors of the earth, who built up waste places for themselves; 15 or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver: 16 or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, as infants who never saw light. 17 There the wicked cease from troubling. There the weary are at rest. 18 There the prisoners are at ease together. They don't hear the voice of the taskmaster. 19 The small and the great are there. The servant is free from his master. 20 "Why is light given to him who is in misery, life to the bitter in soul, 21 Who long for death, but it doesn't come; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures, 22 who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave? 23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? 24 For my sighing comes before I eat. My groanings are poured out like water. 25 For the thing which I fear comes on me, That which I am afraid of comes to me. 26 I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest; but trouble comes."
Similar Verses (AI)
These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.
- Eccl 4:3-42 verses83%
3 Yes, better than them both is him who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
4 Then I saw all the labor and achievement that is the envy of a man's neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
- Eccl 9:3-64 verses77%
3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event to all: yes also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
4 For to him who is joined with all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead don't know anything, neither do they have any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy has perished long ago; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.
- Eccl 4:15-162 verses75%
15 I saw all the living who walk under the sun, that they were with the youth, the other, who succeeded him.
16 There was no end of all the people, even of all them over whom he was--yet those who come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
- 75%
17 The dead don't praise Yah, neither any who go down into silence;
- Eccl 2:15-184 verses75%
15 Then I said in my heart, "As it happens to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise?" Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.
16 For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no memory for ever, since in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. Indeed, the wise man must die just like the fool!
17 So I hated life, because the work that is worked under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
18 I hated all my labor in which I labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.
- 74%
10 So I saw the wicked buried. Indeed they came also from holiness. They went and were forgotten in the city where they did this. This also is vanity.
- 73%
1 Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of those who were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.
- 73%
2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men, and the living should take this to heart.
- Job 3:21-222 verses72%
21 Who long for death, but it doesn't come; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,
22 who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?
- 72%
22 Therefore I saw that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his works; for that is his portion: for who can bring him to see what will be after him?
- Isa 38:18-192 verses71%
18 For Sheol can't praise you. Death can't celebrate you. Those who go down into the pit can't hope for your truth.
19 The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do this day. The father shall make known your truth to the children.
- 71%
7 Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.
- Eccl 2:11-122 verses71%
11 Then I looked at all the works that my hands had worked, and at the labor that I had labored to do; and behold, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.
12 I turned myself to consider wisdom, madness, and folly: for what can the king's successor do? Just that which has been done long ago.
- 71%
18 Though while he lived he blessed his soul-- and men praise you when you do well for yourself--
- Eccl 6:5-62 verses71%
5 Moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it. This has rest rather than the other.
6 Yes, though he live a thousand years twice told, and yet fails to enjoy good, don't all go to one place?
- Eccl 2:24-252 verses71%
24 There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.
25 For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?
- 71%
15 That which is has been long ago, and that which is to be has been long ago: and God seeks again that which is passed away.
- 71%
8 Yes, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity.
- Eccl 8:14-152 verses70%
14 There is a vanity which is done on the earth, that there are righteous 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.
15 Then I commended mirth, because a man has no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: for that will accompany him in his labor all the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.
- 70%
5 For in death there is no memory of you. In Sheol, who shall give you thanks?
- 70%
12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice, and to do good as long as they live.
- 70%
8 For what advantage has the wise more than the fool? What has the poor man, that knows how to walk before the living?
- Eccl 1:9-113 verses70%
9 That which has been is that which shall be; and that which has been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
10 Is there a thing of which it may be said, "Behold, this is new?" It has been long ago, in the ages which were before us.
11 There is no memory of the former; neither shall there be any memory of the latter that are to come, among those that shall come after.
- 70%
20 Therefore I began to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor in which I had labored under the sun.
- 70%
6 For to this end the Good News was preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed as men in the flesh, but live as to God in the spirit.
- 70%
2 "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher; "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."
- 70%
10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.
- 70%
8 "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher. "All is vanity!"
- 69%
3 If a man fathers a hundred children, and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not filled with good, and moreover he has no burial; I say, that a stillborn child is better than he:
- 69%
6 He has made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.
- 69%
2 While I live, I will praise Yahweh. I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.
- 69%
11 For there are many words that create vanity. What does that profit man?
- 69%
14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
- 69%
19 For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath; and man has no advantage over the animals: for all is vanity.