Ecclesiastes 2:23

23 Pain and grief from dawn to dusk. Never a decent night's rest. Nothing but smoke.

Ecclesiastes 2:23 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 2:23

For all his days [are] sorrows, and his travail grief
All his days are full of sorrows, of a variety of them; and all his affairs and transactions of life are attended with grief and trouble; not only the days of old age are evil ones, in which he can take no pleasure; or those times which exceed the common age of man, when he is got to fourscore years or more, and when his strength is labour and sorrow; but even all his days, be they fewer or more, from his youth upward, are all evil and full of trouble, ( Genesis 47:9 ) ( Job 14:1 ) ; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night;
which is appointed for rest and ease; and when laid down on his bed for it, as the word signifies; yet, either through an eager desire of getting wealth, or through anxious and distressing cares for the keeping it when gotten, he cannot sleep quietly and comfortably, his carking cares and anxious thoughts keep him waking; or, if he sleeps, his mind is distressed with dreams and frightful apprehensions of things, so that his sleep is not sweet and refreshing to him. This is also vanity;
or one of the vanities which belong to human life.

Ecclesiastes 2:23 In-Context

21 What's the point of working your fingers to the bone if you hand over what you worked for to someone who never lifted a finger for it? Smoke, that's what it is. A bad business from start to finish.
22 So what do you get from a life of hard labor?
23 Pain and grief from dawn to dusk. Never a decent night's rest. Nothing but smoke.
24 The best you can do with your life is have a good time and get by the best you can. The way I see it, that's it - divine fate.
25 Whether we feast or fast, it's up to God.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.