Ecclesiastes 1:3

Revised Standard Version (RSV-CI)

What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?

Cross References

Ecclesiastes 2:11

Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2:18

I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me;

Ecclesiastes 2:19

and who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 2:22

What has a man from all the toil and strain with which he toils beneath the sun?

Ecclesiastes 3:9

What gain has the worker from his toil?

Ecclesiastes 4:3

but better than both is he who has not yet been, and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 4:7

Again, I saw vanity under the sun:

Ecclesiastes 5:16

This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go; and what gain has he that he toiled for the wind,

Ecclesiastes 5:18

Behold, what I have seen to be good and to be fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life which God has given him, for this is his lot.

Ecclesiastes 6:12

For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?

Ecclesiastes 7:11

Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun.

Ecclesiastes 9:13

I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me.

Ecclesiastes 9:3

This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that 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 hate and their envy have already perished, and they have no more for ever any share in all that is done under the sun.

Isaiah 55:2

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Hearken diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in fatness.

Habakkuk 2:13

Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts that peoples labor only for fire, and nations weary themselves for naught?

Habakkuk 2:18

What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For the workman trusts in his own creation 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? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?

John 6:27

Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal.”

1 Corinthians 16:16

I urge you to be subject to such men and to every fellow worker and laborer.