Verse 2

“Utterly meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

Other Translations

Referenced Verses

  • Rom 8:20 : 20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it—in hope
  • Eccl 12:8 : 8 'Utter futility,' says the Teacher. 'Everything is futile!'
  • Ps 39:5-6 : 5 LORD, let me know my end and the number of my days, so I may understand how fleeting my life is. 6 Behold, You have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before You. Surely, every man is but a breath. Selah.
  • Ps 144:4 : 4 Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
  • Ps 62:9-9 : 9 Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge. Selah. 10 Surely the lowborn are but a breath, the highborn are but a lie. If weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath.
  • Eccl 2:11 : 11 Yet when I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, behold, everything was meaningless—a chasing after the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.
  • Eccl 2:15 : 15 Then I said in my heart, 'What happens to the fool will also happen to me. So why have I been so very wise?' And I concluded in my heart, 'This too is meaningless.'
  • Eccl 2:17 : 17 So I hated life, because the work done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
  • Eccl 2:19 : 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will rule over all the fruit of my labor that I have worked for under the sun. This too is meaningless.
  • Eccl 2:21 : 21 For there is a person who labors with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, but then must leave everything to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.
  • Eccl 2:23 : 23 All their days are full of sorrow, and their work is filled with grief; even at night their mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
  • Eccl 2:26 : 26 To the person who pleases Him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner, He gives the task of gathering and storing wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
  • Eccl 3:19 : 19 For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; they all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over animals, for everything is meaningless.
  • Eccl 4:4 : 4 And I saw that all toil and all skill in work are driven by one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
  • Eccl 4:8 : 8 There was a man all alone. He had no son or brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. 'For whom am I toiling,' he asked, 'and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?' This too is meaningless—a miserable business!
  • Eccl 4:16 : 16 There is no end to all the people who were before them, yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
  • Eccl 5:10 : 10 As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them?
  • Eccl 6:11 : 11 The more words, the more meaningless—and what advantage does that bring to anyone?
  • Eccl 11:8 : 8 For if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in all of them, but let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. All that comes is meaningless.
  • Eccl 11:10 : 10 Remove vexation from your heart and put away distress from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are fleeting.