Ecclesiastes 3:9

Contemporary English Version (Anglicised) 2012

What do we gain by all our hard work?

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Hard work is worthwhile, but empty talk will make you poor.

What is there to show for all our hard work here on this earth?

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.

That's terribly unfair. They leave the world just as they came into it. They gained nothing from running after the wind.

What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourself? What would you give to get back your soul?

to obey leaders like them and to do the same for all others who work hard with you.