Lexicon :: Strong's G3449 - mochthos

Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships that confronted them on the way, and how the LORD rescued them.

“You are not to rule over them harshly but fear your God.

“You may leave them to your sons after you to inherit as property; you can make them slaves for life. But concerning your brothers, the Israelites, you must not rule over one another harshly.

“He will stay with him like a man hired year by year. A resident alien is not to rule over him harshly in your sight.

Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, “This is what your brother Israel says, ‘You know all the hardships that have overtaken us.

He considers no disaster for Jacob;

he sees no trouble for Israel.[fn]

The LORD their God is with them,

and there is rejoicing over the King among them.

“So we called out to the LORD, the God of our ancestors, and the LORD heard our cry and saw our misery, hardship, and oppression.

So now, our God ​— ​the great, mighty,

and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant —

do not view lightly all the hardships that have afflicted us,

our kings and leaders,

our priests and prophets,

our ancestors and all your people,

from the days of the Assyrian kings until today.

His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die! ”

What does a person gain for all his efforts

that he labors at under the sun?

All that my eyes desired, I did not deny them. I did not refuse myself any pleasure, for I took pleasure in all my struggles. This was my reward for all my struggles.

I hated all my work that I labored at under the sun because I must leave it to the one who comes after me.

There is nothing better for a person than to eat, drink, and enjoy[fn][fn] his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand,

What does the worker gain from his struggles?

It is also the gift of God whenever anyone eats, drinks, and enjoys all his efforts.

I saw that all labor and all skillful work is due to one person’s jealousy of another. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.[fn]

Better one handful with rest

than two handfuls with effort and a pursuit of the wind.

There is a person without a companion,[fn] without even a son or brother, and though there is no end to all his struggles, his eyes are still not content with riches. “Who am I struggling for,” he asks, “and depriving myself of good things? ” This too is futile and a miserable task.

As he came from his mother’s womb, so he will go again, naked as he came; he will take nothing for his efforts that he can carry in his hands.

Here is what I have seen to be good: It is appropriate to eat, drink, and experience good in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of his life God has given him, because that is his reward.

All of a person’s labor is for his stomach,[fn]

yet the appetite is never satisfied.

So I commended enjoyment because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy himself, for this will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

I observed all the work of God and concluded that a person is unable to discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though a person labors hard to explore it, he cannot find it; even if a wise person claims to know it, he is unable to discover it.

Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of your fleeting[fn] life, which has been given to you under the sun, all your fleeting days. For that is your portion in life and in your struggle under the sun.

The struggles of fools weary them,

for they don’t know how to go to the city.

“Why do you spend silver on what is not food,

and your wages on what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,

and you will enjoy the choicest of foods.[fn]

For I the LORD love justice;

I hate robbery and injustice;[fn]

I will faithfully reward my people

and make a permanent covenant with them.

The LORD has sworn with his right hand

and his strong arm:

I will no longer give your grain

to your enemies for food,

and foreigners will not drink the new wine

for which you have labored.

“From the time of our youth

the shameful one[fn] has consumed

what our ancestors have worked for —

their flocks and their herds,

their sons and their daughters.

“Let the violence done to me and my family be done to Babylon,”

says the inhabitant of Zion.

“Let my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea,”

says Jerusalem.

He has laid siege against me,

encircling me with bitterness and hardship.

You will give them a heart filled with anguish.[fn]

May your curse be on them!

“They will treat you with hatred, take all you have worked for, and leave you stark naked, so that the shame of your debauchery will be exposed, both your depravity and promiscuity.

“You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty.