23 When one builds, and another pulls down, what profit do they have but toil? (WEB) 24 When one prays, and another curses, whose voice will the Lord listen to? (WEB) 25 He who washes himself after touching a dead body, and touches it again, what does he gain by his washing? (WEB)
Sirach 34:23–25
Semantically similar passages
Ecclesiastes 3:8–10
8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. 9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden that God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them.
Lamentations 3:36–38
36 to subvert a man in his lawsuit— of these the Lord does not approve. 37 Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it? 38 Do not both adversity and good come from the mouth of the Most High?
Job 31:2–4
2 For what is the allotment of God from above, or the heritage from the Almighty on high? 3 Does not disaster come to the unjust and calamity to the workers of iniquity? 4 Does He not see my ways and count my every step?
Sirach 34:3–5
3 The vision of dreams is a reflection, the likeness of a face near a face. (WEB) 4 From an unclean thing what can be cleansed? From that which is false what can be true? (WEB) 5 Divinations, and soothsayings, and dreams, are vain. The heart has fantasies like a woman in labor. (WEB)
2 Esdras 7:116–118
116 I answered then, “This is my first and last saying, that it would have been better if the earth had not produced Adam, or else, when it had produced him, to have restrained him from sinning. (WEB) 117 For what profit is it for all who are in this present time to live in… (WEB)
Sirach 28:2–4
2 Forgive your neighbor the hurt that he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray. (WEB) 3 Does anyone harbor anger against another and expect healing from the Lord? (WEB) 4 Upon a man like himself he has no mercy, and does he make supplication for his own sin… (WEB)
2 Esdras 16:6–8
6 Can one drive away a hungry lion in the forest? Can one quench a fire in stubble, once it has begun to burn? (WEB) 7 Can one turn back an arrow that is shot by a strong archer? (WEB) 8 The Lord God sends the calamities, and who will drive them away? (WEB)
Ecclesiastes 1:2–4
2 “Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!” 3 What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
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