Lectionary Calendar
Tuesday, June 10th, 2025
the Week of Proper 5 / Ordinary 10
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Read the Bible

Young's Literal Translation

Ecclesiastes 3:9

What advantage hath the doer in that which he is labouring at?

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?
Bible in Basic English
What profit has the worker in the work which he does?
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?
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 To everything -- a season, and a time to every delight under the heavens: 2 A time to bring forth, And a time to die. A time to plant, And a time to eradicate the planted. 3 A time to slay, And a time to heal, A time to break down, And a time to build up. 4 A time to weep, And a time to laugh. A time to mourn, And a time to skip. 5 A time to cast away stones, And a time to heap up stones. A time to embrace, And a time to be far from embracing. 6 A time to seek, And a time to destroy. A time to keep, And a time to cast away. 7 A time to rend, And a time to sew. A time to be silent, And a time to speak. 8 A time to love, And a time to hate. A time of war, And a time of peace. 9 What advantage hath the doer in that which he is labouring at? 10 I have seen the travail that God hath given to the sons of man to be humbled by it.

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 saith, `The woman whom Thou didst place with me -- she hath given to me of the tree -- and I do eat.'
Genesis 3:13
And Jehovah God saith to the woman, `What [is] this thou hast done?' and the woman saith, `The serpent hath caused me to forget -- and I do eat.'
Genesis 3:17
And to the man He said, `Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and dost eat of the tree concerning which I have charged thee, saying, Thou dost not eat of it, cursed [is] the ground on thine account; in sorrow thou dost eat of it all days of thy life,
Genesis 3:19
by the sweat of thy face thou dost eat bread till thy return unto the ground, for out of it hast thou been taken, for dust thou [art], and unto dust thou turnest back.'
Genesis 3:20
And the man calleth his wife's name Eve: for she hath been mother of all living.
Genesis 3:21
And Jehovah God doth make to the man and to his wife coats of skin, and doth clothe them.
Genesis 4:9
And Jehovah saith unto Cain, `Where [is] Abel thy brother?' and he saith, `I have not known; my brother's keeper -- I?'
Genesis 11:5
And Jehovah cometh down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men have builded;
Genesis 16:8
and he saith, `Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, whence hast thou come, and whither dost thou go?' and she saith, `From the presence of Sarai, my mistress, I am fleeing.'

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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