Ecclesiastes 2:17

In 11 translations

BSB

So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

KJV

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.

WEB

So I hated life, because the work that is worked under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.

ASV

So I hated life, because the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind.

LSV

And I have hated life, for sad to me [is] the work that has been done under the sun, for the whole [is] vanity and distress of spirit.

YLT

And I have hated life, for sad to me [is] the work that hath been done under the sun, for the whole [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.

DBY

And I hated life; for the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all is vanity and pursuit of the wind.

DRC

And therefore I was weary of my life, when I saw that all things under the sun are evil, and all vanity and vexation of spirit.

GNV

Therefore I hated life: for the worke that is wrought vnder the sunne is grieuous vnto me: for all is vanitie, and vexation of the spirit.

JPS

So I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind.

LXXE

So I hated life; because the work that was wrought under the sun was evil before me: for all is vanity and waywardness of spirit.

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

וְשָׂנֵ֨אתִי֙ אֶת־הַ֣חַיִּ֔ים כִּ֣י רַ֤ע עָלַי֙ הַֽמַּעֲשֶׂ֔ה שֶׁנַּעֲשָׂ֖ה תַּ֣חַת הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ כִּֽי־הַכֹּ֥ל הֶ֖בֶל וּרְע֥וּת רֽוּחַ׃

LXX-Br

Καὶ ἐμίσησα σὺν τὴν ζωήν· ὅτι πονηρὸν ἐπʼ ἐμὲ τὸ ποίημα τὸ πεποιημένον ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον, ὅτι πάντα ματαιότης καὶ προαίρεσις πνεύματος.

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 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.
• Jonah 4:8As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
• Ecclesiastes 4:2So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive.
• Jeremiah 20:14–18Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, saying, “A son is born to you,” bringing him great joy. May that man be like the cities…
• Psalms 89:47Remember the briefness of my lifespan! For what futility You have created all men!
• 1 Kings 19:4while he himself traveled on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
• Ezekiel 3:14So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.
• Job 14:13If only You would hide me in Sheol and conceal me until Your anger has passed! If only You would appoint a time for me and then remember me!
• Job 7:15–16so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body. I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
• Habakkuk 1:3Why do You make me see iniquity? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict abounds.
• Ecclesiastes 1:14I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.
• Job 3:20–22Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul, who long for death that does not come, and search for it like hidden treasure, who rejoice and greatly exult when they can find the grave?
• Ecclesiastes 2:22For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun?
• Numbers 11:15If this is how You are going to treat me, please kill me right now—if I have found favor in Your eyes—and let me not see my own wretchedness.”
• Ecclesiastes 6:9Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
• Ecclesiastes 3:16Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.

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