Ecclesiastes 5.13

type: passage created: 2026-05-06 updated: 2026-05-06 book: Ecclesiastes chapter: 5 verses: "13" translation_default: ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT tags: [scripture] citation_count: 1 enriched: false

Quoted in

Biblical Stewardship

Ecclesiastes 5.13

Book: Ecclesiastes · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"11. When goods increase, they are increased that eat them; and what advantage is there to the owner thereof, save the beholding of them with his eyes? 12. The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much; but the fulness of the rich will not suffer him to sleep."

"13. There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept by the owner thereof to his hurt:"

"14. and those riches perish by evil adventure; and if he hath begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand. 15. As he came forth from his mother's womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand." (Ecclesiastes 5:11-15, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"11. When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes? 12. The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep."

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

"14. Those riches perish by misfortune, and if he has fathered a son, there is nothing in his hand. 15. As he came out of his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand." (Ecclesiastes 5:11-15, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"11. When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? 12. The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep."

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

"14. But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand. 15. As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand." (Ecclesiastes 5:11-15, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"11. In the multiplying of good have its consumers been multiplied, and what benefit [is] to its possessor except the sight of his eyes? 12. Sweet [is] the sleep of the labourer whether he eat little or much; and the sufficiency of the wealthy is not suffering him to sleep."

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

"14. And that wealth hath been lost in an evil business, and he hath begotten a son and there is nothing in his hand! 15. As he came out from the belly of his mother, naked he turneth back to go as he came, and he taketh not away anything of his labour, that doth go in his hand." (Ecclesiastes 5:11-15, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Qohelet (traditionally Solomon)
Audience: wisdom-seekers facing life's apparent vanity
Location: Israel
Time period: traditionally c. 935 BC (Solomon); some scholars date later c. 450-200 BC

Theological reading

Key words

No Strong's-tagged lexicon matches found in this passage. (Lexicon coverage is curated, ~159 of the most apologetically-loaded Greek/Hebrew terms.)

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.