Ecclesiastes, 1
3. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
3. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 1 begins with the author, who presents himself as "the preacher", expressing his frustration and hopelessness about life. He argues that everything is vanity and running after the wind, for things do not change, and all we have is the futility of human existence. Below are five verses related to the topics covered in Ecclesiastes 1:
Psalm 39:5 - "Behold, he gave my days a span in length; my life is nothing before you; in fact, every man, as firm, is pure vanity." This verse highlights the idea that life is passing and of little importance before God, which echoes the central idea of Ecclesiastes 1.
James 4:14 - "For you do not know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? This verse brings a message similar to that found in Ecclesiastes 1 by emphasizing the brevity of human life and the uncertainty of the future.
Isaiah 40:7-8-"Dry the grass, and the flower falls, blowing in it the breath of the Lord. In fact, the people are grass; the grass is dried, and their flower falls; but the word of Our God remains forever. " This verse has a vision similar to that presented in Ecclesiastes 1, of which everything is transitory and perishable.
Job 8:9 - "Because we are yesterday and we know nothing, because our days on earth are like a shadow." This verse expresses the idea that human life is brief and insignificant, which resonates with the feeling of hopelessness found in Ecclesiastes 1.
Psalm 90:10 - "The days of our lives come to seventy years, and if some, for their robustness, come to eighty years, their measure is tired and boring; for it passes quickly, and we fly." This verse emphasizes the brevity of human life and the fleeting of time, a recurring theme in Ecclesiastes 1.
“O trabalho é tão sagrado como a oração”. São Padre Pio de Pietrelcina
