1 Great travail is created for every man. A heavy yoke is upon the sons of Adam, from the day of their coming forth from their mother’s womb, until the day for their burial in the mother of all things. (WEB) 2 The expectation of things to come, and the day of death, trouble their thoughts, and cause fear in their hearts. (WEB)
Sirach 40:1–2
Semantically similar passages
Ecclesiastes 3:9–11
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. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done…
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)
Ecclesiastes 8:5–7
5 Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure. 6 For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him. 7 Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him w…
Ecclesiastes 2:22–24
22 For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile. 24 Nothing is better for a man than to eat a…
Job 14:1–2
1 “Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble. 2 Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
Wisdom of Solomon 3:17–19
17 For if they live long, they will not be esteemed, and in the end, their old age will be without honor. (WEB) 18 If they die young, they will have no hope, nor consolation in the day of judgment. (WEB) 19 For the end of an unrighteous generation is always grievous. (WEB)
Sirach 41:2–4
2 O death, your sentence is acceptable to a man who is needy and who fails in strength, who is in extreme old age, is distracted about all things, is perverse, and has lost patience! (WEB) 3 Don’t be afraid of the sentence of death. Remember those who have been before y… (WEB)
2 Esdras 7:46–48
46 But what about those for whom I prayed? For who is there of those who are alive who has not sinned, and who of the children of men hasn’t transgressed your covenant? (WEB) 47 Now I see that the world to come will bring delight to few, but torments to many. (WEB) 48 For an evil h… (WEB)
Search the collection All books and codes Translations and sources