Lexicon :: Strong's H1892 - heḇel

‘They have made Me [fn]jealous with what is not God;

They have provoked Me to anger with their idols.

So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people;

I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

“I waste away and loathe my life; I will not live forever.

Let me alone, for my days are but a breath [futile and without substance].

“I am accounted wicked and held guilty;

Why then should I labor in vain [to appear innocent]?

“How then can you vainly comfort me with empty words,

Since your answers remain untrue?”

“Behold, all of you have seen it;

Why then do you act vainly and foolishly [cherishing worthless concepts]?

Job uselessly opens his mouth

And multiplies words without knowledge [drawing the worthless conclusion that the righteous have no more advantage than the wicked].”

I hate those who pay regard to vain (empty, worthless) idols;

But I trust in the LORD [and rely on Him with unwavering confidence].

“Behold, You have made my days as [short as] hand widths,

And my lifetime is as nothing in Your sight.

Surely every man at his best is a mere breath [a wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes]! Selah.

“With rebukes You discipline man for sin;

You consume like a moth what is precious to him;

Surely every man is a mere breath [a wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes]. Selah.

Men of low degree are only a breath (emptiness), and men of [high] rank are a lie (delusion).

In the balances they go up [because they have no measurable weight or value];

They are together lighter than a breath.

Therefore He consumed their days like a breath [in emptiness and futility]

And their years in sudden terror.

The LORD knows the thoughts of man,

That they are a mere breath (vain, empty, futile).

Man is like a mere breath;

His days are like a shadow that passes away.

Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles,

But he who gathers gradually by [honest] labor will increase [his riches].

Acquiring treasures by a lying tongue

Is a fleeting vapor, the seeking and pursuit of death.

Charm and grace are deceptive, and [superficial] beauty is vain,

But a woman who fears the LORD [reverently worshiping, obeying, serving, and trusting Him with awe-filled respect], she shall be praised.

“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher.

“Vanity of vanities! All [that is done without God’s guidance] is vanity [futile, meaningless—a wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes, merely chasing the wind].”

I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure and gratification; so enjoy yourself and have a good time.” But behold, this too was vanity (futility, meaninglessness).

I have seen that every [effort in] labor and every skill in work comes from man’s rivalry with his neighbor. This too is vanity (futility, false pride) and chasing after the wind.

Then I looked again at vanity under the sun [in one of its peculiar forms].

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its gain. This too is vanity (emptiness).

For like the crackling of [burning] thorn bushes under a pot,

So is the laughter of the fool;

And this too is vanity (futility).

I have seen everything during my [fleeting] days of futility; there is a righteous man who perishes in [spite of] his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who [fn]lives a long life in [spite of] his wickedness.

So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out of the holy place [but did not thereby escape their doom], and they are [praised in spite of their evil and] soon forgotten in the city where they did such things. This too is futility (vanity, emptiness).

There is a meaningless and futile thing which is done on the earth: that is, there are righteous men whose gain is as though they were evil, and evil men whose gain is as though they were righteous. I say that this too is futility (meaningless, vain).