Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then I looked at all the works that my hands had worked, and at the labor that I had labored to do; and behold, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.
- KJV Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
- BSB Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
- NASB So I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold, all was futility and striving after wind, and there was no benefit under the sun.
- NLT But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Surveying all his works, he found it all vanity and chasing wind, with no lasting profit. Even total success delivers no enduring gain under the sun.
Overview
This is the climactic verdict of Qoheleth's grand experiment: despite achieving everything, it yielded no profit. The repeated 'chasing after wind' underscores how elusive lasting meaning is in earthly pursuits. The verse confronts every dream of fulfillment through success, redirecting hope toward the eternal treasure found only in God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Eccl 1:14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
- 1 Jn 2:16–17For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, isn’t the Father’s, but is the world’s.
- Eccl 1:3What does man gain from all his labor in which he labors under the sun?
- Exod 39:43Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it as Yahweh had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them.
- 1 Tim 6:6But godliness with contentment is great gain.
- Gen 1:31God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
- Hab 2:13Behold, isn’t it of Yahweh of Armies that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity?
- Eccl 2:17–23So I hated life, because the work that is worked under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The search that finds everything 'under the sun' to be vapor exposes the emptiness of life without God and drives us to the one who alone gives meaning, the resurrection that makes our labor not in vain.
How Ecclesiastes 2:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.