Ecclesiastes 2:24

²² For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun?

²³ Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.

Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God.

²⁵ For apart from Him, who can eat and who can find enjoyment?

²⁶ To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

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

Compare

BSB: Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God.
KJV: There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
WEB: There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.
ASV: There is nothing better for a man [than] that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.
DARBY: There is nothing good for man, but that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
BLB: Nothing [is] better for the man than to eat and drink, and his soul to see good in his toil. This also I saw, that it [is] from the hand of God;

ÅB: Er det ikke et gode for mennesket at han kan spise og drikke og unne seg gode dager til gjengjeld for sitt strev? Men jeg så at også dette kommer fra Guds hånd;
OTB: Det er ingenting bedre for en person enn å spise, drikke og finne tilfredsstillelse i sitt strev. Også dette, ser jeg, er fra Guds hånd,
B1930: Er det ikke et gode for mennesket at han kan ete og drikke og unne sig gode dager til gjengjeld for sitt strev? Men jeg så at også dette kommer fra Guds hånd;

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Ecclesiastes 3:22
I have seen that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will come after him?
Read in context
1 Timothy 6:17
Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.
Read in context
Ecclesiastes 8:15
So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.
Read in context
Ecclesiastes 3:12–13
I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and do good while they live,
Read in context
Ecclesiastes 5:18–19
Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot.
Read in context
Ecclesiastes 9:7–9
Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:
Read in context
1 Corinthians 15:32
If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for human motives, what did I gain? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
Read in context
Deuteronomy 12:18
Instead, you must eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place the LORD your God will choose—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates. Rejoice before the LORD your God in all you do,
Read in context