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Ecclesiastes 1

Eccl. 1:3 KJV (With Strong’s)

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

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profit.

Eccl. 2:22• ²²For what hath a man of all his labour,{HR}And of the striving of the heart,{HR}Wherein he laboureth under the sun? (Eccl. 2:22)

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Eccl. 3:9• ⁹What profit hath he that worketh{HR}In that wherein he laboureth? (Eccl. 3:9)

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Eccl. 5:16• ¹⁶And this also is a grievous evil,{HR}That in all points as he came, so shall he go:{HR}And what profit hath he that laboureth for the wind? (Eccl. 5:16)

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Prov. 23:4‑5• ⁴Weary not thyself to become rich;{HR}Cease from thine own intelligence.
⁵Wilt thou set thine eyes upon what is not?{HR}For indeed it maketh itself wings, and it flieth away,{HR}As an eagle toward the heavens. (Prov. 23:4‑5)

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Isa. 55:2• ²Wherefore do ye weigh money for [that which is] not bread? and your labour for [that which] satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye [that which is] good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. (Isa. 55:2)

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Hab. 2:13,18• ¹³Behold, is it not of the Jehovah of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?
¹⁸What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it? the molten image, and the teacher of falsehood, that the maker of his work dependeth thereon, to make dumb idols? (Hab. 2:13,18)

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Matt. 16:26• ²⁶For what does a man profit, if he should gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matt. 16:26)

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Mark 8:36‑37• ³⁶For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
³⁷For what should a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:36‑37)

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John 6:27• ²⁷Work not for the food that perisheth, but for the food that abideth unto life eternal which the Son of man shall give you; for him the Father sealed, [even] God. (John 6:27)

under.

Eccl. 2:11,19• ¹¹Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought,{HR}And on the labour that I had laboured to do:{HR}And, behold, all [was] vanity and a striving after wind,{HR}And there was no profit under the sun.
¹⁹And who knoweth whether he shall be wise or a fool?{HR}Yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured,{HR}And wherein I have showed wisdom under the sun. This also [is] vanity. (Eccl. 2:11,19)

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Eccl. 4:3,7• ³Yea, better than them both did I esteem him which hath not yet been,{HR}Who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
⁷Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun. (Eccl. 4:3,7)

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Eccl. 5:18• ¹⁸Behold, that which I have seen to be good{HR}And to be comely is for one to eat and to drink,{HR}And to enjoy good in all his labour,{HR}Wherein he laboureth under the sun,{HR}All the days of his life which God hath given him:{HR}For this is his portion. (Eccl. 5:18)

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Eccl. 6:12• ¹²For who knoweth what is good for man in life,{HR}All the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow?{HR}For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun? (Eccl. 6:12)

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Eccl. 7:11• ¹¹Wisdom [is] good with an inheritance:{HR}Yea, more excellent [is it] for them that see the sun. (Eccl. 7:11)

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Eccl. 8:15‑17• ¹⁵Then I commended mirth,{HR}Because a man hath no better thing under the sun,{HR}Than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry:{HR}For that shall abide with him in his labour the days of his life{HR}Which God hath given him under the sun.
¹⁶When I applied mine heart to know wisdom,{HR}And to see the business that is done upon the earth:{HR}(For also [there is that] neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)
¹⁷Then I beheld all the work of God,{HR}That man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun:{HR}Because however much a man labour to seek out,{HR}Yet he shall not find;{HR}Yea moreover, though a wise man think to know,{HR}Yet shall he not be able to find. (Eccl. 8:15‑17)

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Eccl. 9:3,6,13• ³This is an evil in all that is done under the sun,{HR}That there is one event unto all:{HR}Yea also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil,{HR}And madness is in [their] heart while they live;{HR}And, after that, they go to the dead.
⁶As well their love, as their hatred{HR}And their envy, is now perished;{HR}Neither have they any more a portion forever{HR}In anything that is done under the sun.
¹³I have also seen wisdom under the sun on this wise,{HR}And it seemed great unto me: (Eccl. 9:3,6,13)

• And this is just the purpose of the whole book, to furnish such striking contrasts whereby the “new” is set off in its glories against the dark background of the “old,” ―rest against labor, hope against despair, song against groan; and so the third verse puts this very explicitly― “What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun?” (“Ecclesiastes 1: Old Groans and New Songs” by F.C. Jennings)

• The word “profit,” then, is, in the Hebrew, yithrohn, and is found in this exact form only in this book, where it is translated “profit,” as here, or “excellency,” as in Ecclesiastes 2:13. The Septuagint translates it into a Greek one, meaning “advantage,” or perhaps more literally, “that which remains over and above.” In Eph. 3:20 it is rendered “exceeding abundantly above.” Hence, we gather that our word intends to convey to us the question, “After life is over, after man has given his labor, his time, his powers, and his talents, what has he received in exchange that shall satisfy him for all that he has lost? (“Ecclesiastes 1: Old Groans and New Songs” by F.C. Jennings)

J. N. Darby Translation

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

W. Kelly Translation

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What profit hath man in all his toil{HR}Wherewith he toileth under the sun?