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?
Parallel translations
- WEB 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?
- BSB This too is a grievous evil: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?
- NKJV And this also is a severe evil— Just exactly as he came, so shall he go. And what profit has he who has labored for the wind?
- NASB This also is a sickening evil: exactly as a person is born, so will he die. What then is the advantage for him who labors for the wind?
- NLT And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind.
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
It is a grievous evil that a man leaves exactly as he came, having labored only for the wind. It matters because toil aimed solely at wealth yields nothing that endures.
Overview
The Preacher laments the futility of labor that gains nothing permanent, since one departs as empty as he arrived. 'Laboring for the wind' captures the emptiness of work pursued for riches alone. The verse exposes the vanity of earthbound striving and implicitly calls for labor offered to the Lord, which is never in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Prov 11:29He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.
- Eccl 1:3What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
- Mark 8:36For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
- Eccl 5:13There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
- John 6:27Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
- Jer 2:8The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
- 1 Sam 12:21And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.
- Isa 26:18We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
- Eccl 2:22–23For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?
- Hos 8:7For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.
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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 5:16 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.