17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

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17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’(A)

“Cursed(B) is the ground(C) because of you;
    through painful toil(D) you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.(E)

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29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.

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29 He named him Noah[a](A) and said, “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 5:29 Noah sounds like the Hebrew for comfort.

20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

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20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it,(A) in hope 21 that[a] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay(B) and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.(C)

22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning(D) as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 8:21 Or subjected it in hope. 21 For

The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

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The earth is defiled(A) by its people;
    they have disobeyed(B) the laws,
violated the statutes
    and broken the everlasting covenant.(C)
Therefore a curse(D) consumes the earth;
    its people must bear their guilt.
Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up,(E)
    and very few are left.

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22 For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?

23 For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.

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22 What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?(A) 23 All their days their work is grief and pain;(B) even at night their minds do not rest.(C) This too is meaningless.

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33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

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33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.(A) In this world you will have trouble.(B) But take heart! I have overcome(C) the world.”

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It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

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In vain you rise early
    and stay up late,
toiling for food(A) to eat—
    for he grants sleep(B) to[a] those he loves.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 127:2 Or eat— / for while they sleep he provides for

23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

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23 but I gave them this command:(A) Obey(B) me, and I will be your God and you will be my people.(C) Walk in obedience to all(D) I command you, that it may go well(E) with you. 24 But they did not listen(F) or pay attention;(G) instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts.(H) They went backward(I) and not forward.

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14 Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.

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14 “Mortals, born of woman,(A)
    are of few days(B) and full of trouble.(C)

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19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

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19 Now we know that whatever the law says,(A) it says to those who are under the law,(B) so that every mouth may be silenced(C) and the whole world held accountable to God.(D)

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26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:

27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

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26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

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17 All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.

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17 All their days they eat in darkness,
    with great frustration, affliction and anger.

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17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

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Toil Is Meaningless

17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.(A)

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