'Vain' in the Bible

and they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'"

They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.'

for it is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be in fear, for it does not bear the sword in vain. It is God's servant to administer retribution on the wrongdoer.

and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you -- unless you believed in vain.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been in vain. In fact, I worked harder than all of them -- yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

So then, dear brothers and sisters, be firm. Do not be moved! Always be outstanding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Now because we are fellow workers, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

I went there because of a revelation and presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did so only in a private meeting with the influential people, to make sure that I was not running -- or had not run -- in vain.

I fear for you that my work for you may have been in vain.

by holding on to the word of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.