Ecclesiastes 2:23

Contemporary English Version (Anglicised) 2012

Our bodies ache during the day, and work is torture. Then at night our thoughts are troubled. It just doesn't make sense.

Cross References

Genesis 3:17

The LORD said to the man, “You listened to your wife and ate fruit from that tree. And so, the ground will be under a curse because of what you did. As long as you live, you will have to struggle to grow enough food.

Genesis 47:9

Jacob answered, “I have lived only a hundred and thirty years, and I have had to move from place to place. My parents and my grandparents also had to move from place to place. But they lived much longer, and their life was not as hard as mine.”

Esther 6:1

That night the king could not sleep, and he got a servant to read him the records of what had happened since he had been king.

Job 14:1

Life is short and sorrowful for every living soul.

Job 5:7

it's all part of life, like sparks shooting skyward.

Psalm 127:2

It is useless to get up early and stay up late in order to earn a living. God takes care of his own, even while they sleep.

Psalm 32:4

Night and day your hand weighed heavily on me, and my strength was gone as in the summer heat.

Psalm 90:15

Make us happy for as long as you caused us trouble and sorrow.

Ecclesiastes 1:13

With all my wisdom I tried to understand everything that happens here on earth. And God has made this so hard for us humans to do.

Ecclesiastes 1:18

The more you know, the more it hurts; the more you understand, the more you suffer.

Ecclesiastes 2:11

Then I thought about everything I had done, including the hard work, and it was simply chasing the wind. Nothing on earth is worth the trouble.

Ecclesiastes 5:12

If you have to work hard for a living, you can rest well at night, even if you don't have much to eat. But if you are rich, you can't even sleep.

Ecclesiastes 5:17

Besides all this, they are always gloomy at mealtimes, and they are troubled, sick, and bitter.

Ecclesiastes 8:16

Day and night I went without sleep, trying to understand what goes on in this world.

Daniel 6:18

All night long the king could not sleep. He did not eat anything, and he would not let anyone come in to entertain him.

Acts 14:22

They encouraged the followers and begged them to remain faithful. They told them, “We have to suffer a lot before we can get into God's kingdom.”