When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had laboured to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind. , There was nothing to be gained under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:3 - Christian Standard Bible Anglicised What does a person gain for all his efforts that he labours at under the sun? Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? 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?] American Standard Version (1901) What profit hath man of all his labor wherein he laboreth under the sun? Common English Bible What do people gain from all the hard work that they work so hard at under the sun? Catholic Public Domain Version What more does a man have from all his labor, as he labors under the sun? Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version What hath a man more of all his labour, that he taketh under the sun? |
When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had laboured to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind. , There was nothing to be gained under the sun.
I hated all my work that I laboured at under the sun because I must leave it to the one who comes after me.
And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will take over all my work that I laboured at skilfully under the sun. This too is futile.
For what does a person get with all his work and all his efforts that he labours at under the sun?
But better than either of them is the one who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.
This too is a sickening tragedy: exactly as he comes, so he will go. What does the one gain who struggles for the wind?
Here is what I have seen to be good: It is appropriate to eat, drink, and experience good in all the labour one does under the sun during the few days of his life God has given him, because that is his reward.
For who knows what is good for anyone in life, in the few days of his futile life that he spends like a shadow? Who can tell anyone what will happen after him under the sun?
Wisdom is as good as an inheritance and an advantage to those who see the sun,
I have observed that this also is wisdom under the sun, and it is significant to me:
This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: there is one fate for everyone. In addition, the hearts of people are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live; after that they go to the dead.
Their love, their hate, and their envy have already disappeared, and there is no longer a portion for them in all that is done under the sun.
Why do you spend silver on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods.
Is it not from the Lord of Armies that the peoples labour only to fuel the fire and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?
What use is a carved idol after its craftsman carves it? It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies. For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it and makes worthless idols that cannot speak.
For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life?
Don’t work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal of approval on him.’
also to submit to such people, and to everyone who works and labours with them.