Ecclesiastes 8:16

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Ecclesiastes 8:14–17 · Berean Standard Bible

14 There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.

15 So 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 him under the sun.

16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night—

17 I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.

Hebrew words

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Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

Ecclesiastes 8:9

All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment.

Ecclesiastes 8:7

Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?

Ecclesiastes 7:25

I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.

Ecclesiastes 2:23

Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.

Ecclesiastes 4:8

There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task.

Ecclesiastes 5:12

The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep.

Genesis 31:40

As it was, the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes.

Psalms 127:2

In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat— for He gives sleep to His beloved.