God gives a man riches, property, and wealth so that he lacks nothing that his heart desires, yet God does not enable him to enjoy the fruit of his labor -- instead, someone else enjoys it! This is fruitless and a grave misfortune.

“I have not spoken in secret,
In a corner of a land of darkness;
I did not say to the descendants of Jacob,
‘Seek Me in vain [with no benefit for yourselves].’
I, the Lord, speak righteousness [the truth—trustworthy, a straightforward correlation between deeds and words],
Declaring things that are upright.

Thus says the Lord,

“What injustice or unrighteousness did your fathers find in Me,
That they have wandered far from Me
And [habitually] walked after emptiness and futility and became empty?

For there will no longer be any false and empty vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.

“Oh, that there were even one among you [whose duty it is to minister to Me] who would shut the gates, so that you would not kindle fire on My altar uselessly [with an empty, worthless pretense]! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of hosts, “nor will I accept an offering from your hand.

but the worries and cares of the world [the distractions of this age with its worldly pleasures], and the deceitfulness [and the false security or glamour] of wealth [or fame], and the passionate desires for all the other things creep in and choke out the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

If a person does not remain united to me, he will be thrown out as a [fruitless] branch and dried up. People gather up such branches and throw them into the fire to be burned [as fuel ?].

who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David, Your servant, said,

‘Why did the nations (Gentiles) become arrogant and rage,
And the peoples devise futile things [against the Lord]?

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,

For Christ did not send me [as an apostle] to baptize, but [commissioned and empowered me] to preach the good news [of salvation]—not with clever and eloquent speech [as an orator], so that the cross of Christ would not be made ineffective [deprived of its saving power].

And it says again-'The Lord sees how fruitless are the deliberations of the wise.'

For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit indeed prayeth, but my meaning is fruitless.

But by the [remarkable] grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not without effect. In fact, I worked harder than all of the apostles, though it was not I, but the grace of God [His unmerited favor and blessing which was] with me.

and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain [useless, amounting to nothing], and your faith is also vain [imaginary, unfounded, devoid of value and benefit—not based on truth].

and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless and powerless [mere delusion]; you are still in your sins [and under the control and penalty of sin].

Therefore, my dear brethren, be firm, unmovable, busily occupied at all times in the Lord's work, knowing that your toil is not fruitless in the Lord.

Do not participate in the worthless and unproductive deeds of darkness, but instead expose them [by exemplifying personal integrity, moral courage, and godly character];

For you know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you has not been ineffective (fruitless, in vain),

For this reason, when I could no longer endure the suspense, I sent someone to find out about your faith [how you were holding up under pressure], for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our work [among you] would prove to be ineffective.

from which some have deviated, [and] have turned away into fruitless discussion,

But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and contentions and quarrels about the law, for they are useless and fruitless.

For you know that you were not redeemed from your useless [spiritually unproductive] way of life inherited [by tradition] from your forefathers with perishable things like silver and gold,

These are the ones who are like dangerous reefs at your love feasts. They feast with you, nurturing only themselves without fear. They are waterless clouds carried along by winds; trees in late autumn—fruitless, twice dead, pulled out by the roots;