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Bible in Basic English

Ecclesiastes 3:9

What profit has the worker in the work which he does?

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- The Topic Concordance - Time;   War/weapons;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Wisdom literature;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Time;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Garden;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes, Book of;   Poetry;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ecclesiastes;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Providence;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Judgment, Divine;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for September 23;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
What does the worker gain from his struggles?
Hebrew Names Version
What profit has he who works in that in which he labors?
King James Version
What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
English Standard Version
What gain has the worker from his toil?
New American Standard Bible
What benefit is there for the worker from that in which he labors?
New Century Version
Do people really gain anything from their work?
Amplified Bible
What profit is there for the worker from that in which he labors?
World English Bible
What profit has he who works in that in which he labors?
Geneva Bible (1587)
What profite hath hee that worketh of the thing wherein he trauaileth?
Legacy Standard Bible
What advantage is there to the worker from that in which he labors?
Berean Standard Bible
What does the worker gain from his toil?
Contemporary English Version
What do we gain by all of our hard work?
Complete Jewish Bible
What does the worker gain from his efforts?
Darby Translation
What profit hath he that worketh from that wherein he laboureth?
Easy-to-Read Version
Do people really gain anything from their hard work?
George Lamsa Translation
What profit has the worker in his labor?
Good News Translation
What do we gain from all our work?
Lexham English Bible
What does the worker gain in his toil?
Literal Translation
What advantage has he who works in that which he did as a laborer?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
What hath a ma els (that doth eny thinge) but weerynesse and laboure?
American Standard Version
What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth?
JPS Old Testament (1917)
What profit hath he that worketh in that he laboureth?
King James Version (1611)
What profite hath hee that worketh, in that wherein he laboureth?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
What hath a man els that doth any thyng, but weerinesse and labour?
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
What advantage has he that works in those things wherein he labours?
English Revised Version
What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
What hath a man more of his trauel?
Update Bible Version
What profit has he that works in that wherein he labors?
Webster's Bible Translation
What profit hath he that worketh in that in which he laboreth?
New English Translation
What benefit can a worker gain from his toil?
New King James Version
What profit has the worker from that in which he labors?
New Living Translation
What do people really get for all their hard work?
New Life Bible
What does the worker get for his work?
New Revised Standard
What gain have the workers from their toil?
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
What profit hath he that worketh, in that wherein, himself, hath toiled?
Douay-Rheims Bible
What hath man more of his labour?
Revised Standard Version
What gain has the worker from his toil?
Young's Literal Translation
What advantage hath the doer in that which he is labouring at?
THE MESSAGE
But in the end, does it really make a difference what anyone does? I've had a good look at what God has given us to do—busywork, mostly. True, God made everything beautiful in itself and in its time—but he's left us in the dark, so we can never know what God is up to, whether he's coming or going. I've decided that there's nothing better to do than go ahead and have a good time and get the most we can out of life. That's it—eat, drink, and make the most of your job. It's God's gift.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?

Contextual Overview

1 For everything there is a fixed time, and a time for every business under the sun. 2 A time for birth and a time for death; a time for planting and a time for uprooting; 3 A time to put to death and a time to make well; a time for pulling down and a time for building up; 4 A time for weeping and a time for laughing; a time for sorrow and a time for dancing; 5 A time to take stones away and a time to get stones together; a time for kissing and a time to keep from kissing; 6 A time for search and a time for loss; a time to keep and a time to give away; 7 A time for undoing and a time for stitching; a time for keeping quiet and a time for talk; 8 A time for love and a time for hate; a time for war and a time for peace. 9 What profit has the worker in the work which he does? 10 I saw the work which God has put on the sons of man.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Ecclesiastes 1:3, Ecclesiastes 2:11, Ecclesiastes 2:22, Ecclesiastes 2:23, Ecclesiastes 5:16, Proverbs 14:23, Matthew 16:26

Cross-References

Genesis 3:12
And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree and I took it.
Genesis 3:13
And the Lord God said to the woman, What have you done? And the woman said, I was tricked by the deceit of the snake and I took it.
Genesis 3:17
And to Adam he said, Because you gave ear to the voice of your wife and took of the fruit of the tree which I said you were not to take, the earth is cursed on your account; in pain you will get your food from it all your life.
Genesis 3:19
With the hard work of your hands you will get your bread till you go back to the earth from which you were taken: for dust you are and to the dust you will go back.
Genesis 3:20
And the man gave his wife the name of Eve because she was the mother of all who have life.
Genesis 3:21
And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins for their clothing.
Genesis 4:9
And the Lord said to Cain, Where is your brother Abel? And he said, I have no idea: am I my brother's keeper?
Genesis 11:5
And the Lord came down to see the town and the tower which the children of men were building.
Genesis 16:8
And he said, Hagar, Sarai's servant, where have you come from and where are you going? And she said, I am running away from Sarai, my master's wife.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?] That is, he has none. This is an inference drawn from the above premises, and confirms what has been before observed, Ecclesiastes 1:3; Man has no profit of his labour, since his time is so short to enjoy it, and he leaves it to another, he knows not who; and, while he lives, is attended with continual vicissitudes and changes; sometimes it is a time for one thing, and sometimes for its contrary, so that there is nothing certain, and to be depended on; and a man can promise himself nothing in this world pleasant or profitable to him, and much less that will be of any advantage to him hereafter. The Targum adds,

"to make treasures and gather mammon, unless he is helped by Providence above;''

though it is man's duty to labour, yet all his toil and labour will be fruitless without a divine blessing; there is a time and season for everything in providence, and there is no striving against that.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ecclesiastes 3:9. What profit hath he — What real good, what solid pleasure, is derived from all the labours of man? Necessity drives him to the principal part of his cares and toils; he labours that he may eat and drink; and he eats and drinks that he may be preserved alive, and kept from sickness and pain. Love of money, the basest of all passions, and restless ambition, drive men to many labours and expedients, which perplex and often destroy them. He, then, who lives without God, travails in pain all his days.


 
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