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Ecclesiastes 2:24-26
English Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 2:24-26
English Standard Version
24 (A)There is nothing better for a person than that he should (B)eat and drink and find enjoyment[a] in his toil. This also, I saw, is (C)from the hand of God, 25 for apart from him[b] who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 For to the one who pleases him (D)God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given (E)the business of gathering and collecting, (F)only to give to one who pleases God. (G)This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ecclesiastes 2:24 Or and make his soul see good
- Ecclesiastes 2:25 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts apart from me
Ecclesiastes 2:24-26
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 2:24-26
New International Version
24 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink(A) and find satisfaction in their own toil.(B) This too, I see, is from the hand of God,(C) 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?(D) 26 To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom,(E) knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth(F) to hand it over to the one who pleases God.(G) This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Ecclesiastes 4:4-8
English Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 4:4-8
English Standard Version
4 Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is (A)vanity[a] and a striving after wind.
5 The fool (B)folds his hands and (C)eats his own flesh.
6 (D)Better is a handful of (E)quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.
7 (F)Again, I saw vanity under the sun: 8 one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his (G)eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, (H)“For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy (I)business.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ecclesiastes 4:4 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also verses 7, 8, 16 (see note on 1:2)
Ecclesiastes 4:4-8
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 4:4-8
New International Version
4 And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.(A)
5 Fools fold their hands(B)
and ruin themselves.
6 Better one handful with tranquillity
than two handfuls with toil(C)
and chasing after the wind.
7 Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:
8 There was a man all alone;
he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil,
yet his eyes were not content(D) with his wealth.
“For whom am I toiling,” he asked,
“and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”
This too is meaningless—
a miserable business!
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
English Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
English Standard Version
18 Behold, what I have seen to be (A)good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment[a] in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his (B)lot. 19 Everyone also to whom (C)God has given (D)wealth and possessions (E)and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is (F)the gift of God. 20 For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ecclesiastes 5:18 Or and see good
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
New International Version
18 This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink(A) and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor(B) under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. 19 Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions,(C) and the ability to enjoy them,(D) to accept their lot(E) and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God.(F) 20 They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.(G)
Ecclesiastes 7:11-14
English Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 7:11-14
English Standard Version
11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
an advantage to those who (A)see the sun.
12 For the protection of wisdom is like (B)the protection of money,
and the advantage of knowledge is that (C)wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
13 Consider (D)the work of God:
(E)who can make straight what he has made crooked?
14 (F)In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, (G)so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.
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Ecclesiastes 7:11-14
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 7:11-14
New International Version
11 Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing(A)
and benefits those who see the sun.(B)
12 Wisdom is a shelter
as money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is this:
Wisdom preserves those who have it.
13 Consider what God has done:(C)
Ecclesiastes 10:18-20
English Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 10:18-20
English Standard Version
18 Through sloth the roof sinks in,
and through indolence the house leaks.
19 Bread is made for laughter,
and (A)wine gladdens life,
and (B)money answers everything.
20 Even in your thoughts, (C)do not curse the king,
nor in your (D)bedroom curse the rich,
for a bird of the air will carry your voice,
or some winged creature tell the matter.
Ecclesiastes 10:18-20
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 10:18-20
New International Version
18 Through laziness, the rafters sag;
because of idle hands, the house leaks.(A)
19 A feast is made for laughter,
wine(B) makes life merry,
and money is the answer for everything.
20 Do not revile the king(C) even in your thoughts,
or curse the rich in your bedroom,
because a bird in the sky may carry your words,
and a bird on the wing may report what you say.
Ecclesiastes 11:1-6
English Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 11:1-6
English Standard Version
Cast Your Bread upon the Waters
11 (A)Cast your bread upon the waters,
(B)for you will find it after many days.
2 (C)Give a portion to (D)seven, or even to eight,
(E)for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.
3 If the clouds are full of rain,
they empty themselves on the earth,
and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,
in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
4 He who observes the wind will not sow,
and he who regards the clouds will not reap.
5 As you do not know the way (F)the spirit comes to (G)the bones in the womb[a] of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening (H)withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ecclesiastes 11:5 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Targum; most Hebrew manuscripts As you do not know the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb
Ecclesiastes 11:1-6
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 11:1-6
New International Version
Invest in Many Ventures
11 Ship(A) your grain across the sea;
after many days you may receive a return.(B)
2 Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;
you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.
3 If clouds are full of water,
they pour rain on the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
4 Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
5 As you do not know the path of the wind,(C)
or how the body is formed[a] in a mother’s womb,(D)
so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things.
6 Sow your seed in the morning,
and at evening let your hands not be idle,(E)
for you do not know which will succeed,
whether this or that,
or whether both will do equally well.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 11:5 Or know how life (or the spirit) / enters the body being formed
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.