14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is (A)vanity[a] and a striving after wind.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 1:14 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2)
  2. Ecclesiastes 1:14 Or a feeding on wind; compare Hosea 12:1 (also in Ecclesiastes 1:17; 2:11, 17, 26; 4:4, 6, 16; 6:9)

14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.(A)

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14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

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(A)Vanity[a] of vanities, says (B)the Preacher,
    (C)vanity of vanities! (D)All is vanity.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 1:2 The Hebrew term hebel, translated vanity or vain, refers concretely to a “mist,” “vapor,” or “mere breath,” and metaphorically to something that is fleeting or elusive (with different nuances depending on the context). It appears five times in this verse and in 29 other verses in Ecclesiastes

“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
    says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
    Everything is meaningless.”(A)

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Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

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11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was (A)vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing (B)to be gained under the sun.

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11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
    and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;(A)
    nothing was gained under the sun.(B)

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11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

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17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for (A)all is vanity and a striving after wind.

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Toil Is Meaningless

17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.(A)

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17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

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26 For to the one who pleases him (A)God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given (B)the business of gathering and collecting, (C)only to give to one who pleases God. (D)This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

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26 To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom,(A) knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth(B) to hand it over to the one who pleases God.(C) This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

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26 For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

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Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is (A)vanity[a] and a striving after wind.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 4:4 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also verses 7, 8, 16 (see note on 1:2)

And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.(A)

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Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

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Better (A)is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is (B)vanity and a striving after wind.

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Better what the eye sees
    than the roving of the appetite.
This too is meaningless,
    a chasing after the wind.(A)

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Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

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