Ecclesiastes 1:3
What is a man profited by all his work which he does under the sun?
Bible in Basic English
In The King James Version
What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
In Context
2All is to no purpose, said the Preacher, all the ways of man are to no purpose.
4One generation goes and another comes; but the earth is for ever.
Cross References
Ecclesiastes 2:11Then I saw all the works which my hands had made, and everything I had been working to do; and I saw that all was to no purpose and desire for wind, and there was no profit under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 2:22What does a man get for all his work, and for the weight of care with which he has done his work under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 4:3Yes, happier than the dead or the living seemed he who has not ever been, who has not seen the evil which is done under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 5:16\5:17\All his days are in the dark, and he has much sorrow, pain, disease, and trouble.
Ecclesiastes 6:12Who is able to say what is good for man in life all the days of his foolish life which he goes through like a shade? who will say what is to be after him under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 8:15So I gave praise to joy, because there is nothing better for a man to do under the sun than to take meat and drink and be happy; for that will be with him in his work all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 1:2-4
Ecclesiastes We are still among Solomon's happy men, his happy servants, that stood continually before him to hear his wisdom; and they are the choicest of all the dictates of his wisdom, such as were more immediately given by divine inspiration, that are here transmitted to us, not to be heard, as by them, but once, and then liable to be mistaken or forgotten, and by repetition to lose their beauty, but to be read, reviewed, revolved, and had in everlasting remembrance. The account we have of Solomon's apostasy… Read the whole commentary →