Ecclesiastes 1:3
New Living Translation
3 What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?
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Ecclesiastes 3:9
New Living Translation
9 What do people really get for all their hard work?
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Ecclesiastes 5:16
New Living Translation
16 And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind.
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Ecclesiastes 2:22
New Living Translation
22 So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety?
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Ecclesiastes 2:11
New Living Translation
11 But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.
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Mark 8:36-37
New Living Translation
36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?[a] 37 Is anything worth more than your soul?
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John 6:27
New Living Translation
27 But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man[a] can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 6:27 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
Proverbs 23:4-5
New Living Translation
4 Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich.
Be wise enough to know when to quit.
5 In the blink of an eye wealth disappears,
for it will sprout wings
and fly away like an eagle.
Matthew 16:26
New Living Translation
26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?[a] Is anything worth more than your soul?
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Isaiah 55:2
New Living Translation
2 Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?
Why pay for food that does you no good?
Listen to me, and you will eat what is good.
You will enjoy the finest food.
Ecclesiastes 2:19
New Living Translation
19 And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish? Yet they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work under the sun. How meaningless!
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Habakkuk 2:13
New Living Translation
13 Has not the Lord of Heaven’s Armies promised
that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes?
They work so hard,
but all in vain!
Ecclesiastes 9:13
New Living Translation
Thoughts on Wisdom and Folly
13 Here is another bit of wisdom that has impressed me as I have watched the way our world works.
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Ecclesiastes 9:6
New Living Translation
6 Whatever they did in their lifetime—loving, hating, envying—is all long gone. They no longer play a part in anything here on earth.
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Ecclesiastes 9:3
New Living Translation
3 It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. Already twisted by evil, people choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway.
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Ecclesiastes 8:15-17
New Living Translation
15 So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.
16 In my search for wisdom and in my observation of people’s burdens here on earth, I discovered that there is ceaseless activity, day and night. 17 I realized that no one can discover everything God is doing under the sun. Not even the wisest people discover everything, no matter what they claim.
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Ecclesiastes 7:11
New Living Translation
11 Wisdom is even better when you have money.
Both are a benefit as you go through life.
Ecclesiastes 6:12
New Living Translation
12 In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can best be spent? Our lives are like a shadow. Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone?
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Ecclesiastes 5:18
New Living Translation
18 Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life.
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Ecclesiastes 4:3
New Living Translation
3 But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born. For they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun.
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Habakkuk 2:18
New Living Translation
18 “What good is an idol carved by man,
or a cast image that deceives you?
How foolish to trust in your own creation—
a god that can’t even talk!
Ecclesiastes 4:7
New Living Translation
The Advantages of Companionship
7 I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun.
Read full chapterHoly Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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