Ecclesiastes 1:3

In 11 translations

BSB

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

KJV

What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

WEB

What does man gain from all his labor in which he labors under the sun?

ASV

What profit hath man of all his labor wherein he laboreth under the sun?

LSV

What advantage [is] to man by all his labor that he labors at under the sun?

YLT

What advantage [is] to man by all his labour that he laboureth at under the sun?

DBY

What profit hath man of all his labour wherewith he laboureth under the sun?

DRC

What hath a man more of all his labour, that he taketh under the sun?

GNV

What remaineth vnto man in all his trauaile, which he suffereth vnder ye sunne?

JPS

What profit hath man of all his labour wherein he laboureth under the sun?

LXXE

What advantage is there to a man in all his labour that he takes under the sun?

Word by word Hebrew · tap a word

Words in brackets are English the glossers added; the Hebrew has no word for them, and they can carry a choice of tense or meaning.

Original-language editions

WLC

מַה־יִּתְר֖וֹן לָֽאָדָ֑ם בְּכָל־עֲמָל֔וֹ שֶֽׁיַּעֲמֹ֖ל תַּ֥חַת הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃

LXX-Br

Τίς περίσσεια τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐν παντὶ μόχθῳ αὐτοῦ ᾧ μοχθεῖ ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον;

In the reference works topics that cite this verse

From public-domain Bible dictionaries and topical indexes (1884–1915).

Cross-references most cited first

• Ecclesiastes 3:9What does the worker gain from his toil?
• Ecclesiastes 2:22For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun?
• Ecclesiastes 5:16This 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?
• Ecclesiastes 2:11Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
• Mark 8:36–37What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
• John 6:27Do 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.”
• Proverbs 23:4–5Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself. When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.
• Isaiah 55:2Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.
• Matthew 16:26What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
• Ecclesiastes 2:19And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.
• Habakkuk 2:13Is it not indeed from the LORD of Hosts that the labor of the people only feeds the fire, and the nations weary themselves in vain?
• Ecclesiastes 8:15–17So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives…
• Ecclesiastes 7:11Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun.
• Ecclesiastes 9:3This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.
• Ecclesiastes 4:3But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.
• Ecclesiastes 6:12For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?

From the OpenBible.info cross-reference set (votes from readers; not every link is a quotation or allusion).