16This too is a grievous evil: As a man comes, so he departs, and what does he gain, since he toils for the wind?


In Context

13 I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,

14 or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when he has a son there is nothing left for him.

15 Naked a man comes from his mother's womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand.

16 This too is a grievous evil: As a man comes, so he departs, and what does he gain, since he toils for the wind?

17 All his days he eats in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger.

18 Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him-for this is his lot.

Ecclesiastes 5:16 in Other Translations

The King James Version of the Holy Bible

5:16And 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?

The Douay-Rheims Version of the Holy Bible

5:16A most deplorable evil: as he came, so shall he return. What then doth it profit him that he hath laboured for the wind?

The American Standard Version of the Holy Bible

5:16And 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?

The Darby Bible Translation of the Holy Bible

5:16And 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?

The English Revised Version of the Holy Bible

5:16And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that he laboureth for the wind?

The Webster Bible Translation of the Holy Bible

5:16And 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?

The World English Bible Translation of the Holy Bible

5:16This 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 Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible

5:16And this also is a painful evil, just as he came, so he goeth, and what advantage is to him who laboureth for wind?

The American King James Version of the Holy Bible

5:16And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit has he that has labored for the wind?