46 Bible Verses about emptiness

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

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty: why then call you me Naomi, seeing the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?

Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it.

Therefore does Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplies words without knowledge.

We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so.

I say, you speak (but they are but vain words), I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom do you trust, that you rebel against me?

You say, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom do you trust, that you rebel against me?

None calls for justice, nor does any plead for truth: they trust in empty words, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.

Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things comes the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that have just escaped from them who live in error.

Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfies not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in richness.

[A song of ascents. Of Solomon.] Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain that build it: unless the LORD keeps the city, the watchman wakes, 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 gives his beloved sleep.

Now therefore thus says the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but you have not enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he that earns wages earns wages to put it into a bag with holes.

That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?

He that loves pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loves wine and oil shall not be rich.

And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.

But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which plunge men into destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, You fool, this night your soul shall be required of you: then whose shall those things be, which you have prepared?

So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish: Whose confidence shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web. He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.

Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for futility shall be his reward.

For he sees that wise men die, likewise the fool and the senseless person perish, and leave their wealth to others.

Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivers from death.

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

When you cry, let your collection of idols deliver you; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that puts his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;

Go and cry unto the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress.

And the rest of it he makes into a god, even his graven image: he falls down unto it, and worships it, and prays unto it, and says, Deliver me; for you are my god. They have not known nor understood: for he has shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.

Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you that are escaped from the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.

They bear it upon the shoulder, they carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands; from its place shall it not move: yea, one shall cry unto it, yet can it not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.

Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble.

And saying, Sirs, why do you these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that you should turn from these vanities unto the living God, who made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them:

Therefore also will I make you sick in striking you, in making you desolate because of your sins. You shall eat, but not be satisfied; and hunger shall be in your midst; and you shall carry away, but shall not save; and that which you save will I give up to the sword.

But if you will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; And if you shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhors my judgments, so that you will not do all my commandments, but that you break my covenant: I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning fever, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

For all this they sinned still, and believed not despite his wondrous works. Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.

For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit harlotry, and shall not increase: because they have ceased to obey the LORD.

Thus says the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, says the LORD. You looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I did blow it away. Why? says the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that is in ruins, and you run every man unto his own house.

Since you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain manner of life received by tradition from your fathers;

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt: open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.

The thief comes not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:

And you are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and power:

But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich.