75 Bible Verses about Futility

Remember how short-lived, I, am, Wherefore, in vain, hast thou created all the sons of Adam?

My days, are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and they are spent, without hope. Remember thou, that, a wind, is my life, not again shall mine eye see blessing:

Man that is born of a woman, is of few days, and full of trouble: As a flower, he cometh forth - and fadeth, He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

Let me know, O Yahweh, mine end, And the measure of my days - what it is, I would know how short-lived I am. Lo! as hand-breadths, hast thou granted my days, and my life-time, is as nothing before thee, - Surely, a mere breath, are all men, even such as stand firm. Selah.

A voice saying Cry! And one said - What should I cry? All flesh, is grass, And, all the grace thereof, like the flower of the field: The grass hath withered The flower hath faded, Because, the breath of Yahweh, hath blown upon it! Surely the people is grass!

Men who are not versed in the morrow - of what sort your life will be ; for ye are, a vapour - for a little, appearing, then, just disappearing!

One thing, there is, for which cause, I have said it, The blameless and the lawless, he bringeth to an end.

As for man, like grass, are his days, Like the blossom of the field, so, doth he blossom; For, a wind, hath passed ever it, and it is gone, And its own place is acquainted with it no more.

Surely as a shadow, doth every man wander, Surely in vain, do they bustle about, he heapeth things up, and knoweth not who shall gather them in.

Lo! is it not from Yahweh of hosts - that peoples labour for fire, and, populations, for emptiness, weary themselves?

For the sun hath sprung up, with it scorching heat, and hath withered the grass, and, the flower thereof, hath fallen out, and, the beauty of the face thereof, hath perished, - so, also the rich, in his goings, shall languish.

Yahweh, knoweth the plans of men, That, they, are a breath!

For, the wisdom of this world, is, foolishness with God; for it is written - He that taketh the wise in their knavery, - And again - The Lord taketh note of the speculations of the wise, that they are vain.

Inasmuch as, having come to know God, not, as God, did they glorify him, or give him thanks, but were made fruitless in their reasonings, and darkened was their undiscerning heart,

This, therefore, am I saying and protesting in the Lord: - that, no longer, ye walk even as, the nations, walk - in the vanity of their minds, Being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God - by reason of the ignorance that existeth within them, by reason of their hearts being turned into stone,

We have heard of the arrogance of Moab, Proud exceedingly! His haughtiness and his arrogance and his passion, Not true, are his boastings.

We have heard the arrogance of Moab - proud exceedingly: His loftiness and his arrogance and his majesty, and his elevation of heart! I know - Declareth Yahweh His passion - that -- tis Unjust! His boastings, that Untrue have they made them !

He hath wrought strength with his arm, He hath scattered men arrogant in the intention of their heart; He hath deposed potentates from thrones, and uplifted the lowly;

Thus, saith Yahweh Accursed is the man - Who trusteth in a son of earth, And hath made flesh his arm, - And whose heart from Yahweh, turneth aside:

Grant us help out of distress, For, vain, is the deliverance of man:

Do not ye trust in nobles, in a son of man who hath no deliverance: His spirit, goeth forth, he returneth to his ground, In that very day, his thoughts perish.

Cease ye from the son of earth, In whose nostrils is but a breath, - For wherein to be reckoned upon, is he?

Alas! for sons who are rebellious, Declareth Yahweh. Executing a purpose, but not from me, And pouring out a libation but not from my spirit, - That they may add sin to sin: Who are setting out to go down to Egypt, But at my mouth, have not asked, - Betaking them to the protection of Pharaoh And seeking refuge under the shadow of Egypt. Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh become to you a shame, And, the refuge in the shadow of Egypt, an insult;read more.
For their princes have been, in Zoan, - And, their messengers unto Hanes, would draw near. Every one, hath felt ashamed of a people that could not serve them, - Neither with help, nor with service, But they are a shame, yea even a reproach.

Alas! for them who are going down to Egypt for help, On horses, would rely, - And have trusted - In chariots - because they are many, and In horsemen, because they are very bold, But have not looked unto the Holy One of Israel, And onto Yahweh, have not sought. But, he also, is wise, and hath brought in calamity, And his own words, hath he not set aside, - Therefore will he rise up, Against the house of evil-doers, and Against the help of the workers of iniquity. Now, the Egyptians, are, men, and not, GOD, And their horses, flesh, and not, spirit; When, Yahweh, shall stretch out his hand, Then I he that is giving help, shall stumble And I he that is receiving help shall fall, And together, shall all of them vanish!

Silly shall our eyes fail, for our help that is vain: In our watchtower, have we watched - for a nation that will not save.

but rejected his statutes, and his covenant, which he solemnised with their fathers, and his testimonies wherewith he testified against them, - and followed vanity, and became vain, and followed the nations that were round about them, as to whom Yahweh charged them, so that they should not do like them.

and turn not aside after vanities, that can neither profit nor deliver, because, vanities, they are.

I hate such as give heed to false vanities, I, then, in Yahweh, have set my hope.

Thus, saith Yahweh, - What did your fathers find in me by way of perversity, that they removed far from me, - and went after vanity, and became vain?

But at once, do they become brutish and stupid, - An example of utmost vanity, is, a tree!

O Yahweh, my strength, and my refuge, and my place to fly to, in the day of distress, - Unto thee, shall nations come in, out of the ends of the earth, that they may say - Surely! Falsehood, did our fathers inherit, Vanity, among whom is none that can profit:

They who take heed to the vanities of falsehood, do, their own lovingkindness, forsake.

But, when they say unto you - Seek ye unto the necromancers and unto the wizards, who chirp, and who mutter, Should not u people seek, unto its God? In behalf of the living, should it seek unto the dead? To the law and to the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, It is , because they have no dawning day. Therefore shall they pass through it hard pressed and hungry, - And it shall be when they hunger, then will they rage and revile their king and their god and turn their faces upwards;read more.
And unto the land, shall they look hard, And lo! distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, driven away!

They have had Visions of falsehood, and Divinations of lies, Who say. Declareth Yahweh, when, Yahweh, hath not sent them, - Yet have they waited for fulfilling of the word. Is it not a Vision of falsehood, ye have seen, and a Divination of lies, ye have spoken, Since ye are saying. Declareth Yahweh! when I have not spoken Therefore Thus saith My Lord Yahweh, Because ye have spoken falsehood, And have had visions of lies, Therefore behold me! against you, Declareth My Lord Yahweh.read more.
So then my hand shall be against the prophets who have Visions of falsehood and who divine Divinations of lies - In the council of my people, shall they not be found. And in the register of the house of Israel, shall they not be written, And Upon the so of Israel, shall they not enter, - So shall ye know that, I, am The Lord Yahweh,

For, the household gods, have spoken vanity, and, the diviners, have had vision of falsehood, and, deceitful dreams, do they relate, vainly, do they console, - for this reason, have they moved about like a flock, they suffer ill, because there is no shepherd.

And so it was, when noon was passed, that although they prophesied until the offering up of the evening gift, yet was there no voice nor any that answered, nor any that hearkened.

And it shall be - When it is seen that Moab hath laboured in vain on the high place, He shall enter into his holy place to pray, and shall not prevail,

Mere palm-trunks turned, they are and cannot speak, They must needs be, carried, for they cannot take a step, Be not afraid of them, for they cannot do harm, And even to do good, is not in their power.

For, before these days, there rose up one Theudas, affirming, himself, to be somebody, - unto whom was inclined a number of men, about four hundred; who was slain, and, all as many as had been trusting in him, were disbanded, and came to nothing. After him, rose up Judas the Galilaean, in the days of the enrolling, and drew a people into revolt after him; and, he, perished, and, all, as many as had trusted in him, were scattered. Now, therefore, I say unto you - stand aloof from these men, and let them alone; because if, of men, be this project or this work, it will be overthrown, -

If ye have died, together with Christ, from the first principles of the world, why, as though alive in the world, are ye submitting to decrees, - Do not handle, nor taste, nor touch; - Which things are all for decay in the using up; - according to the commandments and teachings of men?read more.
The which things, indeed, though they have, an appearance, of wisdom, in self-devised religious observance, and lowliness of mind, and ill-treatment of body, are, in no honourable way, unto a satisfying of the flesh.

Ye shall not again bring in an empty, present, Incense, an abomination, is that unto me! New moon, and sabbath calling an assembly - I cannot endure, iniquity and sacred festival!

Ye have said, Vain is it to serve God, - and, What profit when we have kept his charge, or when we have walked gloomily before Yahweh of hosts?

This people, with the lips, do, honour, me, while, their heart, far off, holdeth from me; But, in vain, do they pay devotions unto me, teaching, for teachings, the commandments of men.

But, he, said unto them - Well, prophesied Isaiah concerning you, ye hypocrites, as it is written - This people, with the lips do honour me, while, their heart, far off, holdeth from me, - But, in vain, do they pay devotions unto me, teaching for teachings, the commandments of men;

I, therefore, brethren, have not been able to speak unto you, as unto men of the Spirit, but as unto men of the flesh - as unto babes in Christ: - With milk, have I fed you, not, with meat; for, not yet, have ye been able; - nay! not yeteven now, are ye able, For ye are yet fleshly. For, whereas there are, among you, jealousy and strife, are ye not, fleshly, and, after the manner of men, walking?

If any thinketh he is observant of religion, not curbing his own tongue, but deceiving his own heart, this one's, religious observance is, vain:

But, foolish questionings, and genealogies, and strife, and contentions about matters of law, avoid, for they are unprofitable and vain.

Lo! ye, on your part, are trusting in false words, - To no profit!

Thy prophets, have had visions for thee, false and foolish, and have not unveiled thine iniquity, to turn back thy captivity, - Yea they have had visions for thee, oracles of falsehood, and enticements!

Let no one be deceiving you with empty words; for, because of these things, is coming the anger of God upon the sons of obstinacy:

Let, no one, against you, be arbitrating, however wishful, - in respect of lowliness of mind, and of a religious observance of the messengers: upon what things he hath seen, taking his stand, in vain, puffed up by his carnal mind, -

Which some, missing, have turned them aside unto idle talk,

Of these things, be putting them in remembrance, adjuring them before God not to be waging word-battles, - useful, for nothing, occasioning a subversion of them that hearken.

For, great swelling words of vanity, uttering, they entice with carnal covetings - in wanton ways - them who are, well-nigh, escaping from the men who, in error, have their behaviour;

I, am the vine: Ye, are the branches. He that abideth in me and, I, in him, the same, beareth much fruit; because, apart from me, ye can bring forth, nothing.

But, if anyone is building, upon the foundation - gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, Each one's work, shall be made, manifest; for, the day, will make it plain, because, by fire, is it to be revealed, - and, each one's work, of what sort it is, the fire itself will prove: - If, anyone's work, shall abide, which he built, a reward, shall he receive, -read more.
If, anyone's work, shall be burnt up, he shall suffer loss, but shall, himself, be saved - though, thus, as through fire.

For we have had delivered to us the joyful message, just as even, they; but the word which was heard did not profit them, they not having been blended, by faith, with the things heard.

And every one who heareth these my words, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand; And the rain descended, and the streams came, and the winds blew, and dashed against that house, and it fell; and, the fall thereof, was, great.

When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, the wicked one cometh, and catcheth up that which hath been sown in his heart, - this, is he, by the pathway, sown. And, he on the rocky places sown, the same, is he that, heareth the word, and, straightway, with joy, receiveth it; yet hath he no root in himself, but is, only for a season, - and, there arising, tribulation or persecution because of the word, straightway, he findeth cause of stumbling.read more.
And, he among the thorns sown, the same, is he that, heareth the word, - and, the anxiety of the age and the deceit of riches, choke up the word, and, unfruitful, it becometh.

Become ye doers of the word, and not hearers only - reasoning yourselves astray; Because, if any is, a word-hearer, and not a doer, the same, is like unto a man observing his natural face in a mirror, - For he observed himself, and is gone away, and, straightway, it hath escaped him, - what manner of man, he was!

But art thou willing to learn, O empty man! that, faith, apart from works, is, idle?

This wicked people who are refusing to hear my words, who are walking in the stubbornness of their heart, and have gone after other gods, to serve them and to bow down to them, yea let them be like this girdle, which is good for nothing.

Wherefore have nations assembled in tumult? Or should, peoples, mutter an empty thing?

The lawless one, shall see, and be indignant, his teeth, will he gnash and melt away, The craving of the lawless, shall vanish.

Thou hast made light of all who stray from thy statutes, for their fraud is, falsehood.

The hope of the righteous, shall be gladness, but, the expectation of the lawless, shall vanish.

When the lawless man dieth, his expectation, perisheth, and, the hope of strong men, hath vanished.

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts - The broad walls of Babylon, shall be laid utterly bare, And, her lofty gates, with fire, shall be burned, - And peoples shall labour for emptiness, And populations, for the fire, shall weary themselves.

And be not joining in fellowship in the unfruitful works of darkness, but, rather, be even administering reproof;

Altogether in vain, Have I cleansed my heart, And bathed in pureness, my hands;

For he hath said, It profiteth not a man, when, his good pleasure, is with God.

But I, said, To no purpose, have I toiled, For waste and mist - my vigour, have I spent, - Surely, my vindication, is, with, Yahweh, And, my recompence, with my God.

Knowing that, Not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, have ye been redeemed from your unmeaning behaviour paternally handed down,

If, therefore, anyone will, for pureness, sever himself from these, he shall be a vessel for honour, hallowed, meet for the Master's use, for every good work, prepared.