Ecclesiastes 1:2-4
English Standard Version
2 (A)Vanity[a] of vanities, says (B)the Preacher,
(C)vanity of vanities! (D)All is vanity.
3 (E)What (F)does man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?
4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but (G)the earth remains forever.
Footnotes
- 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
Ecclesiastes 2:20-23
English Standard Version
20 So I (A)turned about and gave my heart up to despair (B)over all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21 because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 What has a man from (C)all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? 23 For (D)all his days are full of sorrow, and his (E)work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.
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Ecclesiastes 4:4
English Standard Version
4 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.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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)
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
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