46 Bible Verses about emptiness

Most Relevant Verses

Isaiah 45:18

For this is what the Lord says—
God is the Creator of the heavens.
He formed the earth and made it.
He established it;
He did not create it to be empty,
but formed it to be inhabited—
“I am Yahweh,
and there is no other.

Jeremiah 4:23

I looked at the earth,
and it was formless and empty.
I looked to the heavens,
and their light was gone.

Ruth 1:21

I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has pronounced judgment on me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”

Job 35:13

Indeed, God does not listen to empty cries,
and the Almighty does not take note of it—

Job 35:16

Job opens his mouth in vain
and multiplies words without knowledge.

Isaiah 16:6

We have heard of Moab’s pride—
how very proud he is—
his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance,
and his empty boasting.

Isaiah 36:5

I say that your strategy and military preparedness are mere words. What are you now relying on that you have rebelled against me?

2 Kings 18:20

You think mere words are strategy and strength for war. What are you now relying on so that you have rebelled against me?

Isaiah 59:4

No one makes claims justly;
no one pleads honestly.
They trust in empty and worthless words;
they conceive trouble and give birth to iniquity.

2 Peter 2:18

For by uttering boastful, empty words, they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have barely escaped from those who live in error.

Isaiah 55:2

Why do you spend money on what is not food,
and your wages on what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
and you will enjoy the choicest of foods.

Psalm 127:1-2

A Solomonic song of ascents.Unless the Lord builds a house,
its builders labor over it in vain;
unless the Lord watches over a city,
the watchman stays alert in vain.
In vain you get up early and stay up late,
working hard to have enough food—
yes, He gives sleep to the one He loves.

Haggai 1:5-6

Now, the Lord of Hosts says this: “Think carefully about your ways: You have planted much
but harvested little.
You eat
but never have enough to be satisfied.
You drink
but never have enough to become drunk.
You put on clothes
but never have enough to get warm.
The wage earner puts his wages
into a bag with a hole in it.”

Job 20:5

the joy of the wicked has been brief
and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment?

1 Timothy 6:9-10

But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

Luke 12:18-20

I will do this,’ he said. ‘I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there. Then I’ll say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be?’

Job 8:13-15

Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless will perish.
His source of confidence is fragile;
what he trusts in is a spider’s web.
He leans on his web, but it doesn’t stand firm.
He grabs it, but it does not hold up.

Job 15:31

Let him not put trust in worthless things, being led astray,
for what he gets in exchange will prove worthless.

Isaiah 57:13

When you cry out,
let your collection of idols deliver you!
The wind will carry all of them off,
a breath will take them away.
But whoever takes refuge in Me
will inherit the land
and possess My holy mountain.

Judges 10:14

Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them deliver you in the time of your oppression.”

Isaiah 44:17-18

He makes a god or his idol with the rest of it.
He bows down to it and worships;
He prays to it, “Save me, for you are my god.”
Such people do not comprehend
and cannot understand,
for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see,
and their minds so they cannot understand.

Isaiah 45:20

“Come, gather together,
and draw near, you fugitives of the nations.
Those who carry their wooden idols,
and pray to a god who cannot save,
have no knowledge.

Isaiah 46:7

They lift it to their shoulder and bear it along;
they set it in its place, and there it stands;
it does not budge from its place.
They cry out to it but it doesn’t answer;
it saves no one from his trouble.

Jeremiah 11:12

Then the cities of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods they have been burning incense to, but they certainly will not save them in their time of disaster.

Micah 6:13-14

“As a result, I have begun to strike you severely,
bringing desolation because of your sins.
You will eat but not be satisfied,
for there will be hunger within you.
What you acquire, you cannot save,
and what you do save,
I will give to the sword.

Leviticus 26:14-16

“But if you do not obey Me and observe all these commands— if you reject My statutes and despise My ordinances, and do not observe all My commands—and break My covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring terror on you—wasting disease and fever that will cause your eyes to fail and your life to ebb away. You will sow your seed in vain because your enemies will eat it.

Psalm 78:32-33

Despite all this, they kept sinning
and did not believe His wonderful works.
He made their days end in futility,
their years in sudden disaster.

Hosea 4:10

They will eat but not be satisfied;
they will be promiscuous but not multiply.
For they have abandoned their devotion to the Lord.

Haggai 1:7-9

The Lord of Hosts says this: “Think carefully about your ways. Go up into the hills, bring down lumber, and build the house. Then I will be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the Lord. “You expected much, but then it amounted to little. When you brought the harvest to your house, I ruined it. Why?” This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. “Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house.

1 Peter 1:18

For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold,

From Thematic Bible


Emptiness » Emptiness or vanity of the worldly life (ps 3911; 629)

Ephesians 4:17

Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their thoughts.

Ecclesiastes 2:1

I said to myself, “Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good.” But it turned out to be futile.

Psalm 62:9

Men are only a vapor;
exalted men, an illusion.
Weighed in the scales, they go up;
together they are less than a vapor.

Psalm 39:11

You discipline a man with punishment for sin,
consuming like a moth what is precious to him;
every man is only a vapor.Selah

Ecclesiastes 1:2

“Absolute futility,” says the Teacher.
“Absolute futility. Everything is futile.”

Never miss a post

Related Readings

Theasaurus: Emptiness

Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers.