Ecclesiastes 1:3

Amplified Bible - Classic Edition

What profit does man have left from all his toil at which he toils under the sun? [Is life worth living?]

Cross References

Ecclesiastes 2:11

Then I looked on all that my hands had done and the labor I had spent in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after the wind and a feeding on it, and there was no profit under the sun. [Matt. 16:26.]

Ecclesiastes 2:18

And I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will succeed me. [Ps. 49:10.]

Ecclesiastes 2:19

And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have dominion over all my labor in which I have toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)!

Ecclesiastes 2:22

For what has a man left from all his labor and from the striving and vexation of his heart in which he has toiled under the sun?

Ecclesiastes 3:9

What profit remains for the worker from his toil?

Ecclesiastes 4:3

But better than them both [I thought] is he who has not yet been born, who has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 4:7

Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun [in one of its peculiar forms].

Ecclesiastes 5:16

And this also is a serious and severe evil–that in all points as he came, so shall he go; and what gain has he who labors for the wind? [I Tim. 6:6.]

Ecclesiastes 5:18

Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is for one to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in all the labor in which he labors under the sun all the days which God gives him–for this is his [allotted] part. [I Tim. 6:17.]

Ecclesiastes 6:12

For who [limited to human wisdom] knows what is good for man in his life, all the days of his vain life which he spends as a shadow [going through the motions but accomplishing nothing]? For who can tell a man what will happen [to his work, his treasure, his plans] under the sun after he is gone?

Ecclesiastes 7:11

Wisdom is as good as an inheritance, yes, more excellent it is for those [the living] who see the sun.

Ecclesiastes 9:13

This [illustration of] wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great to me:

Ecclesiastes 9:3

This evil is in all that is done under the sun: one fate comes to all. Also the hearts of men are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

Ecclesiastes 9:6

Their love and their hatred and their envy have already perished; neither have they any more a share in anything that is done under the sun.

Isaiah 55:2

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your earnings for what does not satisfy? Hearken diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness [the profuseness of spiritual joy]. [Jer. 31:12-14.]

Habakkuk 2:13

Behold, is it not by appointment of the Lord of hosts that the nations toil only to satisfy the fire [that will consume their work], and the peoples weary themselves only for emptiness, falsity, and futility?

Habakkuk 2:18

What profit is the graven image when its maker has formed it? It is only a molten image and a teacher of lies. For the maker trusts in his own creations [as his gods] when he makes dumb idols.

Matthew 16:26

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life [his blessed life in the kingdom of God]? Or what would a man give as an exchange for his [blessed] life [in the kingdom of God]?

John 6:27

Stop toiling and doing and producing for the food that perishes and decomposes [in the using], but strive and work and produce rather for the [lasting] food which endures [continually] unto life eternal; the Son of Man will give (furnish) you that, for God the Father has authorized and certified Him and put His seal of endorsement upon Him.

1 Corinthians 16:16

I urge you to pay all deference to such leaders and to enlist under them and be subject to them, as well as to everyone who joins and cooperates [with you] and labors earnestly.