Ecclesiastes 5:15

A most deplorable evil: as he came, so shall he return. What then doth it profit him that he hath laboured for the wind?

Douay-Rheims 1899

In The King James Version

As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.

In Context

14As he came forth naked from his mother's womb, so shall he return, and shall take nothing away with him of his labour.

16All the days of his life he eateth in darkness, and in many cares, and in misery, and sorrow.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 5

Cross References

Job 1:21And said: Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: as it hath pleased the Lord so is it done: blessed be the name of the Lord.

Psalms 49:17Be not thou afraid, when a man shall be made rich, and when the glory of his house shall be increased.

Luke 12:20But God said to him: Thou fool, this night do they require thy soul of thee: and whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 5:10-18

The Vanity of Riches. 9 Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field. 10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. 11 When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? 12 The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.… Read the whole commentary →

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