Ecclesiastes 4:8

WEB

⁸There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. “For whom then do I labor and deprive my soul of enjoyment?” This also is vanity. Yes, it is a miserable business.

KJV

⁸There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.

BSB

⁸There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task.

FBV

⁸What about someone who has no family to help him, no brother or son, who works all the time, but isn't satisfied with the money he makes. “Who am I working for?” he asks himself. “Why am I preventing myself from enjoying life?” Such a situation is hard to explain—it's an evil business!

Extra References

1 John 2:16

¹⁶For 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.

Proverbs 27:20

²⁰Sheol^[+] and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man’s eyes are never satisfied.

Luke 12:20

²⁰“But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’

Ecclesiastes 1:8

⁸All things are full of weariness beyond uttering. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

Ecclesiastes 1:13

¹³I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the sky. It is a heavy burden that God ^[+] has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.

Matthew 11:28

²⁸“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.

Isaiah 56:3-5

³Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD speak, saying, “The LORD will surely separate me from his people.” Do not let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” ⁴For the LORD says, “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, choose the things that please me, and hold fast to my covenant, ⁵I will give them in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.

Psalms 39:6

⁶“Surely every man walks like a shadow. Surely they busy themselves in vain. He heaps up, and doesn’t know who shall gather.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

⁹Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. ¹⁰For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and doesn’t have another to lift him up. ¹¹Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one keep warm alone? ¹²If a man prevails against one who is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Isaiah 5:8

⁸Woe to those who join house to house, who lay field to field, until there is no room, and you are made to dwell alone in the middle of the land!