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Ecclesiastes 5:16

WorkDeath and lossDiscouragement and depression

14 or wealth lost in a failed venture, so when that man has a son there is nothing to pass on.

15 As a man came from his mother’s womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived. He takes nothing for his labor to carry in his hands.

This too is a grievous evil: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?

17 Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.

18 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.

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

Compare

BSB
This too is a grievous evil: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?
KJV
And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?
WEB
This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind?
ASV
And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that he laboreth for the wind?
DARBY
And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came so doth he go away, and what profit hath he, in having laboured for the wind?
BLB
And this also [is] a sickening evil: Exactly as, he came, so shall he go, and what profit [is] for him who has toiled for the wind?
ÅB
Også dette er et stort onde: Aldeles som han kom, skal han gå bort; hva vinning har han da av at han gjør seg strev bort i været?
OTB
Også dette er en alvorlig ondskap: akkurat som man kommer, slik skal de dra bort. Hva er da gevinsten for dem som strever for vinden?
B1930
Også dette er et stort onde: Aldeles som han kom, skal han gå bort; hvad vinning har han da av at han gjør sig møie bort i været?

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Proverbs 11:29

    He who brings trouble on his house will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.

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  • Ecclesiastes 1:3

    What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?

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  • Mark 8:36

    What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?

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  • Ecclesiastes 5:13

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

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  • John 6:27

    Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”

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  • Hosea 8:7

    For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.

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  • Jeremiah 2:8

    The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD?’ The experts in the law no longer knew Me, and the leaders rebelled against Me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and followed useless idols.

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  • Ecclesiastes 2:22–23

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

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