'Vain' in the Bible

Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

'Thou dost not lift up a vain report; thou dost not put thy hand with a wicked man to be a violent witness.

I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you look on in vain all day, and you will be powerless to do anything about it.

For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.

And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baalberith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him.

Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.

And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.

Then David strapped on his sword over his fighting attire, but he tried in vain to walk [around], for he was not trained to use [them]. So David said to Saul, "I am not able to walk with these, because I am not trained to use [them]." So David removed them.

Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good.

Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself!

or I had done against my soul a vain thing, and no matter is hid from the king, and thou -- thou dost station thyself over-against.'

And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them.

Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?

And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them.

“Let the stars of its early dawn be dark;Let the morning wait in vain for the light,Let it not see the eyelids of morning (the day’s dawning),

“The caravans of Tema looked [for water],The caravans of Sheba waited for them [in vain].

If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?

For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?

For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt.

“But the eyes of the wicked will fail,And they will not escape [the justice of God];And their hope is to breathe their last [and die].”

Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?

Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?

How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?

Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?

“If I have withheld from the poor what they desired,Or have caused the eyes of the widow to look in vain [for relief],

“Surely God will not listen to an empty cry [which lacks trust],Nor will the Almighty regard it.

Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplieth words without knowledge.

She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear;

Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

You people, how long will you malign my reputation? How long will you love what is vain and what is false? Interlude

From men with Your hand, O Lord,From men of the world [these moths of the night] whose portion [of enjoyment] is in this life—idle and vain,And whose belly You fill with Your treasure;They are satisfied with children,And they leave what they have left [of wealth] to their children.

I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.

I despise those who trust vain idols; but I have trusted in the LORD.

An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.

The words from his mouth are vain and deceptive. He has abandoned behaving wisely and doing good.

Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.

Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.

Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.

Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?

The Lord knows the thoughts of man,That they are a mere breath (vain, empty, futile).

Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.

SAMECH. I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.

You reject all who wander from your statutes, since their deceitfulness is vain.

{A Song of degrees for Solomon.} Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.

If they say, “Come with us;Let us lie in wait to shed blood,Let us ambush the innocent without cause;

Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding.

A vain man through pride causeth debate, And with the counselled is wisdom.

Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles,But he who gathers gradually by [honest] labor will increase [his riches].

A scoffer seeks wisdom and finds none [for his ears are closed to wisdom],But knowledge is easy for one who understands [because he is willing to learn].

He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.

Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

I have seen that every [effort in] labor and every skill in work comes from man’s rivalry with his neighbor. This too is vanity (futility, false pride) and chasing after the wind.

One hand full of rest and patience is better than two fists full of labor and chasing after the wind.

And I have turned, and I see a vain thing under the sun:

For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?

I have seen all these things in my vain life: Sometimes a righteous man perishes in [spite of] his righteousness, and sometimes a wicked man lives a long life in [spite of] his evil.

Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given you under the sun—all the days of vanity and futility. For this is your reward in life and in your work in which you have labored under the sun.

Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

We have heard of the arrogance of Moab, he is very proud, of his pride, and his arrogance, and his wrath: his pratings are vain.

For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.

I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?

Everyone who makes an engraved image is vain. The things that they delight in will not profit. Their own witnesses don't see, nor know, that they may be disappointed.

For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.

Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.

Thou wast wearied with the length of thy way; yet saidst thou not, It is in vain: thou didst find a quickening of thy strength; therefore thou wast not faint.

They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.

Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?

Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, It is in vain; no, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.

In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.

O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.

How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.

For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

But they say, It is in vain; for we will walk after our own devices, and we will do every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart.

But My people have forgotten Me, to a vain thing they make perfume, And they cause them to stumble in their ways -- paths of old, To walk in paths -- a way not raised up,

Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.

Behold, I am against them that prophesy lying dreams, saith Jehovah, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting: yet I sent them not, nor commanded them; neither do they profit this people at all, saith Jehovah.

Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured.

I know his wrath, saith Jehovah; his pratings are vain: they do not as they say.

For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.

Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.

As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.

And they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them.

For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.

Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken?

Then they will comfort you when you see their conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done in vain whatever I did to it,” declares the Lord God.