Ecclesiastes 2:23

New International Reader's Version

As long as they live, their work is nothing but pain and sorrow. Even at night their minds can’t rest. That doesn’t have any meaning either.

Cross References

Genesis 3:17

The Lord God said to Adam, “You listened to your wife’s suggestion. You ate fruit from the tree I warned you about. I said, ‘You must not eat its fruit.’ “So I am putting a curse on the ground because of what you did. All the days of your life you will have to work hard. It will be painful for you to get food from the ground.

Genesis 47:9

Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my journey through life are 130. My years have been few and hard. They aren’t as many as the years of my father and grandfather before me.”

Esther 6:1

That night the king couldn’t sleep. So he ordered the official records of his rule to be brought in. He ordered someone to read them to him.

Job 14:1

“Human beings have only a few days to live. Their lives are full of trouble.

Job 5:7

People are born to have trouble. And that’s just as sure as sparks fly up.

Psalm 127:2

It’s useless for you to work from early morning until late at night just to get food to eat. God provides for those he loves even while they sleep.

Psalm 32:4

Day and night you punished me. I became weaker and weaker as I do in the heat of summer.

Psalm 90:15

Make us glad for as many days as you have made us suffer. Give us joy for as many years as we’ve had trouble.

Ecclesiastes 1:13

I decided to study things carefully. I used my wisdom to check everything out. I looked into everything that is done on earth. What a heavy load God has put on human beings!

Ecclesiastes 1:18

A lot of human wisdom leads to a lot of sorrow. More knowledge only brings more sadness.

Ecclesiastes 2:11

But then I looked over everything my hands had done. I saw what I had worked so hard to get. And nothing had any meaning. It was like chasing the wind. Nothing was gained on this earth.

Ecclesiastes 5:12

The sleep of a worker is sweet. It doesn’t matter whether they eat a little or a lot. But the wealth of rich people keeps them awake at night.

Ecclesiastes 5:17

All their lives they eat in darkness. Their lives are full of trouble, suffering and anger.

Ecclesiastes 8:16

I used my mind to understand what it really means to be wise. I wanted to observe the hard work people do on earth. They don’t close their eyes and go to sleep day or night.

Daniel 6:18

The king returned to his palace. He didn’t eat anything that night. He didn’t ask for anything to be brought to him for his enjoyment. And he couldn’t sleep.

Acts 14:22

There they helped the believers gain strength. They told them to remain faithful to what they had been taught. “We must go through many hard times to enter God’s kingdom,” they said.