Parallel Verses
International Standard Version
This is also a painful tragedy: However a person comes, he also departs; so what does he gain as he labors after the wind?
New American Standard Bible
This also is a grievous evil—exactly as a man
King James Version
And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?
Holman Bible
This too is a sickening tragedy: exactly as he comes, so he will go. What does the one gain
A Conservative Version
And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit has he that he labored for the wind?
American Standard Version
And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that he laboreth for the wind?
Amplified
This also is a grievous evil—exactly as he was born, so he shall die. So what advantage has he who labors for the wind?
Bible in Basic English
And this again is a great evil, that in all points as he came so will he go; and what profit has he in working for the wind?
Darby Translation
And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came so doth he go away, and what profit hath he, in having laboured for the wind?
Julia Smith Translation
And also this an evil making sick, wholly as he came so shall he go: and what to him he shall labor for the wind?
King James 2000
And this also is a great evil, that just as he came, so shall he go: and what profit has he who has labored for the wind?
Lexham Expanded Bible
This also [is] a grievous illness. Exactly as he came, so he will go. What profit [does] he gain for all his toil for the wind?
Modern King James verseion
And this also is a sore evil, that in all, as he came, so shall he go; and what profit does he have who has labored for the wind?
Modern Spelling Tyndale-Coverdale
This is a miserable plague, that he shall go away even as he came. What helpeth him then, that he hath labored in the wind?
NET Bible
This is another misfortune: Just as he came, so will he go. What did he gain from toiling for the wind?
New Heart English Bible
This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind?
The Emphasized Bible
Even this, moreover, is an incurable evil, altogether as he came, so, shall he depart, - what profit then shall he have who toileth for the wind?
Webster
And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath labored for the wind?
World English Bible
This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind?
Youngs Literal Translation
And this also is a painful evil, just as he came, so he goeth, and what advantage is to him who laboureth for wind?
Themes
Labour » fields of activity » Worldly, sometimes disappointing
Interlinear
Chalah
Ra`
References
Morish
Word Count of 20 Translations in Ecclesiastes 5:16
Verse Info
Context Readings
Hoarding Wealth Can Backfire
15 Just as he came naked from his mother's womb, he will leave as naked as he came; he will receive no profit from his efforts he cannot carry away even a handful. 16 This is also a painful tragedy: However a person comes, he also departs; so what does he gain as he labors after the wind? 17 Furthermore, all his days he lives in darkness with great sorrow, anger, and affliction.
Cross References
Proverbs 11:29
Whoever troubles his household will inherit the wind, and the fool will be a servant to the wise.
Ecclesiastes 1:3
What does a man gain from all of the work that he undertakes on earth?
1 Samuel 12:21
Don't turn aside after useless things that cannot profit or deliver because they're useless.
Ecclesiastes 2:22-23
For what does a person gain from everything that he accomplishes and from his inner life struggles that he undergoes while working on earth?
Ecclesiastes 5:13
I have observed a painful tragedy on earth: Wealth hoarded by its owner harms him,
Isaiah 26:18
We were pregnant, writhing in pain, but we gave birth only to wind. We have not won your victory on earth, nor have the inhabitants of the world been born."
Jeremiah 2:8
"The priests didn't say, "Where is the LORD?' and those handling the Law didn't know me. The rulers transgressed against me, the prophets prophesied by Baal, and they followed that which does not profit.
Hosea 8:7
"Because they sow the wind, they will reap the wind storm. The plant has no stalk and its bud yields no grain. Even if there's a harvest, foreigners will gobble it up.
Mark 8:36
What profit will a person have if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?
John 6:27
Do not work for food that perishes but for food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him."