Ecclesiastes 3:13

For why each man that eateth and drinketh, and seeth good of his travail; this is the gift of God. (For each person who eateth, and drinketh, and seeth the good that cometh from all of his labour; yea, this is the gift of God.)

Wycliffe Modern Spelling

In The King James Version

And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

In Context

12And I knew that nothing was better to a man, but to be glad, and to do good works in his life. (And so I know that there is nothing better for a person, but to be happy, and to do good works in his life.)

14I have learned that all the works, that God made, last steadfastly unto without end; we may not add anything to those works, neither take away from those things, which God made, that he be dreaded, (or which God made, so that he be feared or so that he be revered).

Read all of Ecclesiastes 3

Cross References

Deuteronomy 28:30Take thou a wife, and another man sleep with her; build thou an house, and dwell thou not therein; plant thou a vinery, and gather thou not grapes thereof. (Thou shalt take a wife, but another man shall sleep with her; thou shalt build a house, but thou shalt not live in it; and thou shalt plant a vineyard, but thou shalt not gather its grapes.)

Judges 6:3And when Israel had sown, Midian ascended, and Amalek (was with them), and others of the nations of the east;

Ecclesiastes 2:24Whether it is not better to eat and drink, and to show to his soul [the] goods of his travails? and this thing is of the hand of God. (Is it not better for a person to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good things from all his labour? and this is also from the hand of God.)

Ecclesiastes 6:2A man is, to whom God gave riches, and chattel, and honour; and nothing faileth to his soul of all things which he desireth; and God giveth not power to him, that he eat thereof, but a strange man shall devour it + 6:2 For God draweth him away suddenly from (this) present life. This is vanity, and a great wretchedness. (There is a person, to whom God gave riches, and possessions, and honour; and he lacketh nothing of all the things which he desireth; but God giveth him not the power to enjoy those things, but a stranger shall enjoy them. This is empty and futile, and a great wretchedness.)

Isaiah 65:21And they shall build houses, and shall inhabit them, and they shall plant vines, and shall eat the fruits of those.

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 3:12-16

Mutability of Human Affairs. 11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. 12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. 13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. 14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Ecclesiastes 3:13