18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
    and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
    you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken;
(A)for you are dust,
    and (B)to dust you shall return.”

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18 It will produce thorns and thistles(A) for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.(B)
19 By the sweat of your brow(C)
    you will eat your food(D)
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”(E)

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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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