Ecclesiastes 2:23

All his days have been filled with sorrows and hardships; neither does he rest his mind, even in the night. And is this not emptiness?

Catholic Public Domain Version

In The King James Version

For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.

In Context

22For how can a man benefit from all his labor and affliction of spirit, by which he has been tormented under the sun?

24Is it not better to eat and drink, and to show his soul the good things of his labors? And this is from the hand of God.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 2

Cross References

Esther 6:1The king passed that night without sleep, and so he ordered the histories and chronicles of former times to be brought to him. And when they were reading them before him,

Job 7:13If I say, “My bed will comfort me, and I will find rest, speaking with myself on my blanket,”

Psalms 6:6For there is no one in death who would be mindful of you. And who will confess to you in Hell?

Psalms 77:2I will open my mouth in parables. I will speak about concepts that are from the beginning.

Psalms 90:15He will cry out to me, and I will heed him. I am with him in tribulation. I will rescue him, and I will glorify him.

Ecclesiastes 1:18Because of this, with much wisdom there is also much anger. And whoever adds knowledge, also adds hardship.

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 2:18-26

Sources of Dissatisfaction; The Cheerful Use of Abundance. 17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit. 18 Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. 19 And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Ecclesiastes 2:23