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Ecclesiastes 4:6-8
Lexham English Bible
Ecclesiastes 4:6-8
Lexham English Bible
6 Better is one handful with peace
than two fists full with toil and chasing wind.
Wealth without Someone with Which to Enjoy It is Futile
7 I turned again and saw another vanity under the sun. 8 Sometimes a man is all alone with no companion; he also has neither son nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eye is not satisfied with wealth. He laments, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself[a] of pleasure?” This also is vanity—it is an unhappy business!
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- Ecclesiastes 4:8 Literally “his soul”
Ecclesiastes 4:6-8
English Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 4:6-8
English Standard Version
6 (A)Better is a handful of (B)quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.
7 (C)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 (D)eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, (E)“For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy (F)business.
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Ecclesiastes 4:6-8
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 4:6-8
New International Version
6 Better one handful with tranquillity
than two handfuls with toil(A)
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(B) 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!
Lexham English Bible (LEB)
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English Standard Version (ESV) 
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.