Ecclesiastes 2:24

Is it not better to eat and drink, and to shew his soul good things of his labours? and this is from the hand of God.

Douay-Rheims 1899

In The King James Version

There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.

In Context

23All his days axe full of sorrows and miseries, even in the night he doth not rest in mind: and is not this vanity?

25Who shall so feast and abound with delights as I?

Read all of Ecclesiastes 2

Cross References

Deuteronomy 12:18But thou shalt eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou and thy son and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and maidservant, and the Levite that dwelleth in thy cities: and thou shalt rejoice and be refreshed before the Lord thy God in all things, whereunto thou shalt put thy hand.

Nehemiah 8:10And he said to them: Go, eat fat meats, and drink sweet wine, and send portions to them that have not prepared for themselves: because it is the holy day of the Lord, and be not sad: for the joy of the Lord is our strength.

Ecclesiastes 3:12And I have known that there was no better thing than to rejoice, and to do well in this life.

Ecclesiastes 3:22And I have found that nothing is better than for a man to rejoice in his work, and that this is his portion. For who shall bring him to know the things that shall be after him?

Ecclesiastes 5:18And every man to whom God hath given riches, and substance, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to enjoy his portion, and to rejoice of his labour: this is the gift of God.

Ecclesiastes 8:15Therefore I commended mirth, because there was no good for a man under the sun, but to eat, and drink, and be merry, and that he should take nothing else with him of his labour in the days of his life, which God hath given him under the sun.

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 2:24