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Ecclesiastes 2:17

Discouragement and depressionGriefWorkExhaustion

15 Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.

16 For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.

Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

18 Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.

19 And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.

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Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
KJV
Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
WEB
So I hated life, because the work that is worked under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
ASV
So I hated life, because the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind.
DARBY
And I hated life; for the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all is vanity and pursuit of the wind.
BLB
And I have hated this life, because the work [was] evil to me that was done under the sun—for all [is] vapor and a striving after the wind.
ÅB
Da ble jeg lei av livet; for ondt var i mine øyne alt som skjer under solen; for alt sammen er tomhet og jag etter vind.
OTB
Så jeg avskydde livet, fordi arbeidet som ble gjort under solen var smertefullt for meg. Alt er meningsløst, et jag etter vind.
B1930
Da blev jeg lei av livet; for ondt var i mine øine alt som skjer under solen; for alt sammen er tomhet og jag efter vind.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Ecclesiastes 2:11

    Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

    Read in context

  • Ecclesiastes 4:2

    Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.

    Read in context

  • Jonah 4:8

    And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

    Read in context

  • 1 Kings 19:4

    But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

    Read in context

  • Numbers 11:15

    And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.

    Read in context

  • Job 3:20–22

    Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;

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  • Ecclesiastes 2:22

    For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?

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  • Jeremiah 20:14–18

    Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.

    Read in context