Bible Compass
Log inGet started
Back to the chapter

Ecclesiastes 5:11

Money and wealthContentment

9 The produce of the earth is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.

10 He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.

When good things increase, so do those who consume them; what then is the profit to the owner, except to behold them with his eyes?

12 The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep.

13 There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,

Read the whole chapter

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

Compare

BSB
When good things increase, so do those who consume them; what then is the profit to the owner, except to behold them with his eyes?
KJV
When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?
WEB
When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes?
ASV
When goods increase, they are increased that eat them; and what advantage is there to the owner thereof, save the beholding [of them] with his eyes?
DARBY
When goods increase, they are increased that eat them; and what profit is there to the owner thereof, except the beholding [of them] with his eyes?
BLB
In the multiplying of good those devouring it are multiplied; and what profit [is] for its owners, but the beholding with his eyes?
ÅB
Jo mere gods dess flere til å fortære det; og hva gagn har dets eier av det, annet enn at han får se det?
OTB
Når eiendeler øker, øker også de som forbruker dem. Hvilken fordel har da eierne annet enn å se på dem?
B1930
Jo mere gods dess flere til å fortære det; og hvad gagn har dets eier av det, annet enn at han får se det?

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • 1 John 2:16

    For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.

    Read in context

  • Habakkuk 2:13

    Is it not indeed from the LORD of Hosts that the labor of the people only feeds the fire, and the nations weary themselves in vain?

    Read in context

  • Psalms 119:36–37

    Turn my heart to Your testimonies and not to covetous gain.

    Read in context

  • Proverbs 23:5

    When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.

    Read in context

  • Ecclesiastes 6:9

    Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

    Read in context

  • Genesis 13:5–7

    Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.

    Read in context

  • Joshua 7:21–25

    When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

    Read in context

  • Ecclesiastes 11:9

    Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.

    Read in context