Ecclesiastes 5:13
New International Version
I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,

New Living Translation
There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver.

English Standard Version
There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt,

Berean Standard Bible
There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,

King James Bible
There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.

New King James Version
There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun: Riches kept for their owner to his hurt.

New American Standard Bible
There is a sickening evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth being hoarded by its owner to his detriment.

NASB 1995
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt.

NASB 1977
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt.

Legacy Standard Bible
There is a sickening evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being hoarded by their master to his own evil demise.

Amplified Bible
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being kept and hoarded by their owner to his own misery.

Christian Standard Bible
There is a sickening tragedy I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
There is a sickening tragedy I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.

American Standard Version
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept by the owner thereof to his hurt:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
There is a disease of evil that I have seen under the sun: wealth that is kept by its owner to his harm

Brenton Septuagint Translation
There is an infirmity which I have seen under the sun, namely, wealth kept for its owner to his hurt.

Contemporary English Version
I have seen something terribly unfair. People get rich, but it does them no good.

Douay-Rheims Bible
There is also another grievous evil, which I have seen under the sun: riches kept to the hurt of the owner.

English Revised Version
There is a grievous evil, which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept by the owner thereof to his hurt:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
There is a painful tragedy that I have seen under the sun: Riches lead to the downfall of those who hoard them.

Good News Translation
Here is a terrible thing that I have seen in this world: people save up their money for a time when they may need it,

International Standard Version
I have observed a painful tragedy on earth: Wealth hoarded by its owner harms him,

JPS Tanakh 1917
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept by the owner thereof to his hurt;

Literal Standard Version
There is a painful evil I have seen under the sun: wealth kept for its possessor, for his evil.

Majority Standard Bible
There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,

New American Bible
This is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches hoarded by their owners to their own hurt.

NET Bible
Here is a misfortune on earth that I have seen: Wealth hoarded by its owner to his own misery.

New Revised Standard Version
There is a grievous ill that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owners to their hurt,

New Heart English Bible
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.

Webster's Bible Translation
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners of them to their hurt.

World English Bible
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.

Young's Literal Translation
There is a painful evil I have seen under the sun: wealth kept for its possessor, for his evil.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Futility of Wealth
12The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep. 13There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner, 14or wealth lost in a failed venture, so when that man has a son there is nothing to pass on.…

Cross References
Job 20:20
Because his appetite is never satisfied, he cannot escape with his treasure.

Ecclesiastes 5:14
or wealth lost in a failed venture, so when that man has a son there is nothing to pass on.

Ecclesiastes 6:1
There is another evil I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily upon mankind:

Ecclesiastes 6:2
God gives a man riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires; but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a grievous affliction.


Treasury of Scripture

There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.

a sore

Ecclesiastes 4:8
There 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.

Ecclesiastes 6:1,2
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: …

riches

Ecclesiastes 8:9
All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.

Genesis 13:5-11
And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents…

Genesis 14:16
And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

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Ecclesiastes 5
1. vanities in divine service
8. in murmuring against oppression
9. and in riches
18. Joy in riches is the gift of God.














(13) Sore evil.--Ecclesiastes 6:2; Jeremiah 14:17; Nahum 3:19.

Verses 13-17. - Another view of the evils attendant upon riches is here presented: the owner may lose them at a stroke, and leave nothing for his children. This thought is presented in different lights. Verse 13. - There is also a sore evil which I have seen under the sun (so ver. 16). The fact that follows is, of course, not universally true, but occasionally seen, and is a very bitter evil. The Septuagint calls it ἀῥῤωστία; the Vulgate, infirmitas. Riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt; rather, preserved by the possessor, hoarded and guarded, only to bring their lord added grief when by some reverse of fortune he loses them, as explained in what follows.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
There is
יֵ֚שׁ (yêš)
Adverb
Strong's 3426: Being, substance, existence, is

a grievous
חוֹלָ֔ה (ḥō·w·lāh)
Verb - Qal - Participle - feminine singular
Strong's 2470: To be weak or sick

evil
רָעָ֣ה (rā·‘āh)
Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 7451: Bad, evil

I have seen
רָאִ֖יתִי (rā·’î·ṯî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 7200: To see

under
תַּ֣חַת (ta·ḥaṯ)
Preposition
Strong's 8478: The bottom, below, in lieu of

the sun:
הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ (haš·šā·meš)
Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 8121: The sun, the east, a ray, a notched battlement

wealth
עֹ֛שֶׁר (‘ō·šer)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6239: Wealth

hoarded
שָׁמ֥וּר (šā·mūr)
Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - masculine singular
Strong's 8104: To hedge about, guard, to protect, attend to

to the harm
לְרָעָתֽוֹ׃ (lə·rā·‘ā·ṯōw)
Preposition-l | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 7451: Bad, evil

of its owner,
לִבְעָלָ֖יו (liḇ·‘ā·lāw)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 1167: A master, a husband, owner


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OT Poetry: Ecclesiastes 5:13 There is a grievous evil which (Ecclesiast. Ec Ecc Eccles.)
Ecclesiastes 5:12
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