Ecclesiastes 1:3

Futility Illustrated from Nature

1:3 What benefit do people get from all the effort

which they expend on earth?

Ecclesiastes 3:9

Man is Ignorant of God’s Timing

3:9 What benefit can a worker gain from his toil?

Covetousness

5:10 The one who loves money will never be satisfied with money,

he who loves wealth will never be satisfied with his income.

This also is futile.

5:11 When someone’s prosperity increases, those who consume it also increase;

so what does its owner gain, except that he gets to see it with his eyes?

5:17 Surely, he ate in darkness every day of his life,

and he suffered greatly with sickness and anger.

6:7 All of man’s labor is for nothing more than to fill his stomach –

yet his appetite is never satisfied!

6:8 So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool?

And what advantage does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive?

Enjoy Life In Spite of Its Injustices

8:15 So I recommend the enjoyment of life,

for there is nothing better on earth for a person to do except to eat, drink, and enjoy life.

So joy will accompany him in his toil

during the days of his life which God gives him on earth.

16:26 A laborer’s appetite works on his behalf,

for his hunger urges him to work.

16:1 The intentions of the heart belong to a man,

but the answer of the tongue comes from the Lord.

6:8 yet it prepares its food in the summer;

it gathers at the harvest what it will eat.