Topic
Vanity
100 verses · ranked by helpfulness
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.
He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.
But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.
For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. — read the full passage →
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.
Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. — read the full passage →
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.
For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. — read the full passage →
Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.
Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.
Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.
When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.
The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.
If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.
O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.
He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.
And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them.
Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. — read the full passage →
His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.
O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.
For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.
So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.
When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;
And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it.
Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:
He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.
And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.
For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass’s colt.
I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. — read the full passage →
Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.
I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the Lord.
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.
He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.
Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.
Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.
And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.
And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. — read the full passage →
Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.
For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?
But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. — read the full passage →
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding.
But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.
But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?
I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?
Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord.
Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Topical index adapted from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Verse text: KJV.