Vanity

Passages on this topic

From Nave’s Topical Bible (1896), a historical reference index. The groupings are Nave’s; the verses are shown in the text used across this site.

A consequence of the fall

• Romans 8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope

Every man has

• Psalm 39:11 You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor. Selah

Every state of man is

• Psalm 62:9 Lowborn men are but a vapor; the exalted are but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.

Man, at his best estate, is

• Psalm 39:5 You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah

Man is similar to

• Psalm 144:4 Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

The thoughts of man are

• Psalm 94:11 The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.

The days of man are

• Job 7:16 I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
• Ecclesiastes 6:12 For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?

Childhood and youth are

• Ecclesiastes 11:10 So banish sorrow from your heart, and cast off pain from your body, for youth and vigor are fleeting.

The beauty of man is

• Psalm 39:11 You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor. Selah
• Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

The help of man is

• Psalm 60:11 Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless.
• Lamentations 4:17 All the while our eyes were failing as we looked in vain for help. We watched from our towers for a nation that could not save us.

Man' s own righteousness is

• Isaiah 57:12 I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not profit you.

Worldly wisdom is

• Ecclesiastes 2:15 So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile.
• Ecclesiastes 2:21 When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great evil.
• 1 Corinthians 3:20 And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”

Worldly pleasure is

• Ecclesiastes 2:1 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!” But it proved to be futile.

Worldy anxiety is

• Psalm 39:6 Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.
• Psalm 127:2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat — for He gives sleep to His beloved.

Worldly labor is

• Ecclesiastes 2:11 Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
• Ecclesiastes 4:4 I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Worldly enjoyment is

• Ecclesiastes 2:3 I sought to cheer my body with wine and to embrace folly— my mind still guiding me with wisdom— until I could see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
• Ecclesiastes 2:10–11 Anything my eyes desired, I did not deny myself. I refused my heart no pleasure. For my heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile…

Worldly possessions are

• Ecclesiastes 2:4–11 I expanded my pursuits. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made gardens and parks for myself, where I planted all kinds of fruit trees. I built reservoirs to water my groves of flourishing trees. I acquired menservants and maidservants, and servants were born in my house. I also own…

Treasures of wickedness are

• Proverbs 10:2 Ill-gotten treasures profit nothing, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.

Heaping up riches is

• Ecclesiastes 2:26 To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
• Ecclesiastes 4:8 There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile — a miserable task.

Love of riches is

• Ecclesiastes 5:10 He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.

Unblessed riches are

• Ecclesiastes 6:2 God gives a man riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires; but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a grievous affliction.

Riches gotten by falsehood are

• Proverbs 21:6 Making a fortune by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist, a deadly pursuit.

All earthly things are

• Ecclesiastes 1:2 “Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”

Foolish questions are

• 1 Timothy 1:6–7 Some have strayed from these ways and turned aside to empty talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand what they are saying or that which they so confidently assert.
• 1 Timothy 6:20 O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid irreverent, empty chatter and the opposing arguments of so-called “knowledge,”
• 2 Timothy 2:14 Remind the believers of these things, charging them before God to avoid quarreling over words, which succeeds only in leading the listeners to ruin.
• 2 Timothy 2:16 But avoid irreverent, empty chatter, which will only lead to more ungodliness,
• Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments, and quarrels about the law, because these things are pointless and worthless.

The conduct of the ungodly is

• 1 Peter 1:18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,

The religion of hypocrites is

• James 1:26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.

The worship of the wicked is

• Isaiah 1:13 Bring your worthless offerings no more; your incense is detestable to Me. New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations— I cannot endure iniquity in a solemn assembly.
• Matthew 6:7 And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard.

Lying words are

• Jeremiah 7:8 But look, you keep trusting in deceptive words to no avail.

False teaching is but

• Jeremiah 23:32 “Indeed,” declares the LORD, “I am against those who prophesy false dreams and retell them to lead My people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent them or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people,” declares the LORD.

Mere external religion is

• 1 Timothy 4:8 For physical exercise is of limited value, but godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for the present life and for the one to come.
• Hebrews 13:9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace and not by foods of no value to those devoted to them.

Almsgiving without love is

• 1 Corinthians 13:3 If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Faith without works is

• James 2:14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

Idolatry is

• 2 Kings 17:15 They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.
• Psalm 31:6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols, but in the LORD I trust.
• Isaiah 44:9–10 All makers of idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their witnesses fail to see or comprehend, so they are put to shame. Who fashions a god or casts an idol which profits him nothing?
• Jeremiah 10:8 But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!
• Jeremiah 18:15 Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of on the highway.

Wealth gotten by, diminishes

• Proverbs 13:11 Dishonest wealth will dwindle, but what is earned through hard work will be multiplied.

Saints hate the thoughts of

• Psalm 119:113 The double-minded I despise, but Your law I love.

Pray to be kept from

• Psalm 119:37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word.
• Proverbs 30:8 Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread that is my portion.

Avoid

• Psalm 24:4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear deceitfully.

Avoid those given to

• Psalm 26:4 I do not sit with deceitful men, nor keep company with hypocrites.

Evil people

Especially characterized by

• Job 11:11 Surely He knows the deceit of men. If He sees iniquity, does He not take note?

Though full of, affect to be wise

• Job 11:12 But a witless man can no more become wise than the colt of a wild donkey can be born a man!

Love

• Psalm 4:2 How long, O men, will my honor be maligned? How long will you love vanity and seek after lies? Selah

Imagine

• Psalm 2:1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
• Acts 4:25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
• Romans 1:21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.

Devise

• Psalm 36:4 Even on his bed he plots wickedness; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he fails to reject evil.

Speak

• Psalm 10:7 His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; trouble and malice are under his tongue.
• Psalm 12:2 They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
• Psalm 41:6 My visitor speaks falsehood; he gathers slander in his heart; he goes out and spreads it abroad.

Regard God' s service as

• Job 21:15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’
• Malachi 3:14 You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?

Allure others through the words of

• 2 Peter 2:18 With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.

Live by

• Jeremiah 2:5 This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in Me that they strayed so far from Me? They followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves.

Live in

• Psalm 39:6 Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.
• Ephesians 4:17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

Inherit

• Jeremiah 16:19 O LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of distress, the nations will come to You from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our fathers inherited nothing but lies, worthless idols of no benefit at all.

Reap

• Proverbs 22:8 He who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
• Jeremiah 12:13 They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves to no avail. Bear the shame of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”

Judicially given up to

• Psalm 78:33 So He ended their days in futility, and their years in sudden terror.
• Isaiah 57:13 When you cry out, let your companies of idols deliver you! Yet the wind will carry off all of them, a breath will take them away. But he who seeks refuge in Me will inherit the land and possess My holy mountain.”

Fools follow those given to

• Proverbs 12:11 The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.

Following those given to, leads to poverty

• Proverbs 28:19 The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.

All should know and acknowledge

• Deuteronomy 4:35 You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides Him.

See Pride