Ecclesiastes 1:2
New Living Translation
Everything Is Meaningless
2 “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”
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Romans 8:20
New Living Translation
20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope,
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Psalm 144:4
New Living Translation
4 For they are like a breath of air;
their days are like a passing shadow.
Ecclesiastes 5:10
New Living Translation
10 Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!
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Ecclesiastes 12:8
New Living Translation
Concluding Thoughts about the Teacher
8 “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless.”
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Psalm 39:5-6
New Living Translation
5 You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
at best, each of us is but a breath.” Interlude
6 We are merely moving shadows,
and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.
We heap up wealth,
not knowing who will spend it.
Ecclesiastes 2:26
New Living Translation
26 God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him. This, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
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Ecclesiastes 2:19
New Living Translation
19 And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish? Yet they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work under the sun. How meaningless!
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Ecclesiastes 2:11
New Living Translation
11 But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.
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Ecclesiastes 2:23
New Living Translation
23 Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night their minds cannot rest. It is all meaningless.
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Ecclesiastes 2:17
New Living Translation
17 So I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
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Ecclesiastes 11:8
New Living Translation
8 When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember there will be many dark days. Everything still to come is meaningless.
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Ecclesiastes 6:11
New Living Translation
11 The more words you speak, the less they mean. So what good are they?
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Ecclesiastes 4:8
New Living Translation
8 This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing.
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Ecclesiastes 4:4
New Living Translation
4 Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
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Ecclesiastes 3:19
New Living Translation
19 For people and animals share the same fate—both breathe[a] and both must die. So people have no real advantage over the animals. How meaningless!
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- 3:19 Or both have the same spirit.
Ecclesiastes 2:21
New Living Translation
21 Some people work wisely with knowledge and skill, then must leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn’t worked for it. This, too, is meaningless, a great tragedy.
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Psalm 62:9-10
New Living Translation
9 Common people are as worthless as a puff of wind,
and the powerful are not what they appear to be.
If you weigh them on the scales,
together they are lighter than a breath of air.
10 Don’t make your living by extortion
or put your hope in stealing.
And if your wealth increases,
don’t make it the center of your life.
Ecclesiastes 4:16
New Living Translation
16 Endless crowds stand around him,[a] but then another generation grows up and rejects him, too. So it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.
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- 4:16 Hebrew There is no end to all the people, to all those who are before them.
Ecclesiastes 11:10
New Living Translation
10 So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.
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Ecclesiastes 2:15
New Living Translation
15 Both will die. So I said to myself, “Since I will end up the same as the fool, what’s the value of all my wisdom? This is all so meaningless!”
Read full chapterHoly Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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