Ecclesiastes 5:13

New Living Translation

There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver.

Parallel Translations

Update Bible Version
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, [namely], riches kept by the owner thereof to his hurt:

New Century Version
I have seen real misery here on earth: Money saved is a curse to its owners.

New English Translation
Here is a misfortune on earth that I have seen: Wealth hoarded by its owner to his own misery.

Webster's Bible Translation
There is a grievous evil [which] I have seen under the sun, [namely], riches kept for the owners of them to their hurt.

World English Bible
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.

Amplified Bible
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being kept and hoarded by their owner to his own misery.

English Standard Version
There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Also anothir sijknesse is ful yuel, which Y siy vndur the sunne; richessis ben kept in to the yuel of her lord.

English Revised Version
There is a grievous evil, which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept by the owner thereof to his hurt:

Berean Standard Bible
There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,

Contemporary English Version
I have seen something terribly unfair. People get rich, but it does them no good.

American Standard Version
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept by the owner thereof to his hurt:

Bible in Basic English
There is a great evil which I have seen under the sun--wealth kept by the owner to be his downfall.

Complete Jewish Bible
Due to some misfortune, the wealth turns to loss; and then if he has fathered a son, he has nothing to leave him.

Darby Translation
There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt;

Easy-to-Read Version
There is a very sad thing that I have seen happen in this life. People save their money for the future.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
and those riches perish by evil adventure; and if he hath begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand.

King James Version (1611)
There is a sore euill which I haue seene vnder the Sun, namely riches kept for the owners therof to their hurt.

New Life Bible
There is something very wrong which I have seen under the sun: Riches being kept by the owner and he is hurt by them.

New Revised Standard
There is a grievous ill that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owners to their hurt,

Geneva Bible (1587)
There is an euill sickenes that I haue seene vnder the sunne: to wit, riches reserued to the owners thereof for their euill.

George Lamsa Translation
There is also another grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, riches kept by the owner thereof to his own hurt.

Good News Translation
Here is a terrible thing that I have seen in this world: people save up their money for a time when they may need it,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Here was an incurable evil, I had seen under the sun, riches kept by the owner thereof, to his hurt;

Douay-Rheims Bible
(5-12) There is also another grievous evil, which I have seen under the sun: riches kept to the hurt of the owner.

Revised Standard Version
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Yet is there a sore plague which I haue seene vnder the sunne [namely] riches kept to the hurt of him that hath them in possession:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And that wealth shall perish in an evil trouble: and the man begets a son, and there is nothing in his hand.

Christian Standard Bible®
There is a sickening tragedy I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.

Hebrew Names Version
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.

King James Version
There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.

Lexham English Bible
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded by its owner to his harm.

Literal Translation
There is a painful evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being kept for their owner to his evil;

Young's Literal Translation
There is a painful evil I have seen under the sun: wealth kept for its possessor, for his evil.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yet is there a sore plage, which I haue sene vnder the Sonne (namely) riches kepte to the hurte of him yt hath them in possession.

THE MESSAGE
Here's a piece of bad luck I've seen happen: A man hoards far more wealth than is good for him And then loses it all in a bad business deal. He fathered a child but hasn't a cent left to give him. He arrived naked from the womb of his mother; He'll leave in the same condition—with nothing. This is bad luck, for sure—naked he came, naked he went. So what was the point of working for a salary of smoke? All for a miserable life spent in the dark?

New American Standard Bible
There is a sickening evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth being hoarded by its owner to his detriment.

New King James Version
There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun: Riches kept for their owner to his hurt.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt.

Legacy Standard Bible
There is a sickening evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being hoarded by their master to his own evil demise.

Contextual Overview

⁹ Even the king milks the land for his own profit! ¹⁰ Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! ¹¹ The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers! ¹² People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good night's sleep. ¹³ There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver. ¹⁴ Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one's children. ¹⁵ We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can't take our riches with us. ¹⁶ And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind. ¹⁷ Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud—frustrated, discouraged, and angry.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

a sore: Ecclesiastes 4:8, Ecclesiastes 6:1, Ecclesiastes 6:2

riches: Ecclesiastes 8:9, Genesis 13:5-11, Genesis 14:16, Genesis 19:14, Genesis 19:26, Genesis 19:31-38, Proverbs 1:11-13, Proverbs 1:19, Proverbs 1:32, Proverbs 11:4, Proverbs 11:24, Proverbs 11:25, Isaiah 2:20, Isaiah 32:6-8, Zephaniah 1:18, Luke 12:16-21, Luke 16:1-13, Luke 16:19, Luke 16:22, Luke 16:23, Luke 18:22, Luke 18:23, Luke 19:8, 1 Timothy 6:9, 1 Timothy 6:10, James 2:5-7, James 5:1-4

Reciprocal: Joshua 7:24 - took Achan Esther 8:2 - Esther set Job 20:20 - Surely Psalms 49:10 - leave Proverbs 4:23 - with all diligence Proverbs 23:5 - riches Ecclesiastes 2:18 - I should Ecclesiastes 5:16 - a sore Ecclesiastes 10:5 - an evil Jeremiah 17:11 - shall leave Jeremiah 48:36 - the riches Matthew 13:22 - the deceitfulness 1 Timothy 6:17 - uncertain riches

Gill's Notes on the Bible

There is a sore evil [which] I have seen under the sun,.... Or "an evil sickness" m. A sinful disease in the person with whom it is found, and very disagreeable to others to behold; it is enough to make one sick to see it; and what he is about to relate he himself was an eyewitness of:

[namely], riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt; laid up in barns and granaries, as the fruits of the earth; or in chests and coffers, as gold and silver, for the use and service of the owners of them; and which yet have been to their real injury; being either used by them in a luxurious and intemperate way, so have brought diseases on their bodies, and damnation to their souls; or not used at all for their own good, or the good of others, which brings the curse of God upon them, to their ruin and destruction, both here and hereafter: and oftentimes so it is, and which no doubt had fallen under the observation of Solomon, that some who have been great misers, and have hoarded up their substance, without using them themselves, or sharing them with others, have not only been plundered of them, but, for the sake of them, their lives have been taken away in a most barbarous manner, by cutthroats and villains; sometimes by their own servants, nay, even by their own children. Riches ill gotten and ill used are very prejudicial to the owners; and if they are well got, but ill used, or not used at all, greatly hurt the spiritual and eternal state of men; it is a difficult thing for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven, and a covetous man cannot; if a professor, the word he hears is choked and made unprofitable; he errs from the faith, and pierces himself through with many sorrows now, and is liable to eternal damnation hereafter. The Targum interprets it of a man that gathers riches, and does no good with them; but keeps them to himself, to do himself evil in the world to come.

m רעה חולה "morbus malus", Tigurine version, Vatablus.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 13. Riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. — This may be the case through various causes:

1. He may make an improper use of them, and lose his health by them.

2. He may join in an unfortunate partnership and lose all.

3. His riches may excite the desire of the robber; and he may spoil him of his goods, and even take away his life.

4. Or, he may leave them to his son, who turns profligate, spends the whole, and ruins both his body and soul. I have seen this again and again.