Bible Cross References
Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?
Ecclesiastes 1:6-9
6
The wind blows south, the wind blows north---round and round and back again.
7
Every river flows into the sea, but the sea is not yet full. The water returns to where the rivers began, and starts all over again.
8
Everything leads to weariness---a weariness too great for words. Our eyes can never see enough to be satisfied; our ears can never hear enough.
9
What has happened before will happen again. What has been done before will be done again. There is nothing new in the whole world.
Ecclesiastes 1:17-9
Ecclesiastes 1:18-9
Ecclesiastes 2:3-11
3
Driven on by my desire for wisdom, I decided to cheer myself up with wine and have a good time. I thought that this might be the best way people can spend their short lives on earth.
4
I accomplished great things. I built myself houses and planted vineyards.
5
I planted gardens and orchards, with all kinds of fruit trees in them;
6
I dug ponds to irrigate them.
7
I bought many slaves, and there were slaves born in my household. I owned more livestock than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem.
8
I also piled up silver and gold from the royal treasuries of the lands I ruled. Men and women sang to entertain me, and I had all the women a man could want.
9
Yes, I was great, greater than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem, and my wisdom never failed me.
10
Anything I wanted, I got. I did not deny myself any pleasure. I was proud of everything I had worked for, and all this was my reward.
11
Then I thought about all that I had done and how hard I had worked doing it, and I realized that it didn't mean a thing. It was like chasing the wind---of no use at all.
Ecclesiastes 3:19
After all, the same fate awaits human beings and animals alike. One dies just like the other. They are the same kind of creature. A human being is no better off than an animal, because life has no meaning for either.
Ecclesiastes 4:1-4
1
Then I looked again at all the injustice that goes on in this world. The oppressed were crying, and no one would help them. No one would help them, because their oppressors had power on their side.
2
I envy those who are dead and gone; they are better off than those who are still alive.
3
But better off than either are those who have never been born, who have never seen the injustice that goes on in this world.
4
I have also learned why people work so hard to succeed: it is because they envy the things their neighbors have. But it is useless. It is like chasing the wind.
Ecclesiastes 4:8-4
Ecclesiastes 4:16-4
Ecclesiastes 5:7
No matter how much you dream, how much useless work you do, or how much you talk, you must still stand in awe of God.
Psalm 73:6
And so they wear pride like a necklace and violence like a robe;
Hosea 12:1
Everything that the people of Israel do from morning to night is useless and destructive. Treachery and acts of violence increase among them. They make treaties with Assyria and do business with Egypt."