Best matchEcclesiastes 1:2–3
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?
Bible passages about “vanity of vanities, everything is meaningless”
Curated semantic-search results from the Bible and early Jewish and Christian writings. These passages are drawn from a current, full-corpus deep search.
Top matching passages
Ecclesiastes 12:8
8 “Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile!”
Ecclesiastes 1:7–17
7 All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place from which the streams come, there again they flow. 8 All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing. 9 What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there a case where one can say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us. 11 There is no remembrance of those who came before, and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow after. 12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind. 15 What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted. 16 I said to myself, “Behold, I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.
Ecclesiastes 2:11–22
11 Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun. 12 Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished? 13 And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness: 14 The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both. 15 So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile. 16 For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool! 17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind. 18 I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile. 20 So my heart began to despair over all the labor that I had done under the sun. 21 When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and s…
Ecclesiastes 6:9–12
9 Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind. 10 Whatever exists was named long ago, and what happens to a man is foreknown; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he. 11 For the more words, the more futility—and how does that profit anyone? 12 For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 4:16
16 There is no limit to all the people who were before them. Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
Ecclesiastes 3:19–20
19 For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile. 20 All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.
Ecclesiastes 4:4–8
4 I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind. 5 The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh. 6 Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind. 7 Again, I saw futility under the sun. 8 There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task.
Ecclesiastes 6:4
4 For a stillborn child enters in futility and departs in darkness, and his name is shrouded in obscurity.
Ecclesiastes 5:16
16 This too is a grievous evil: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?
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