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Sunday, July 20th, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Read the Bible

Wycliffe Bible

Ecclesiastes 4:7

I bihelde and foond also another vanytee vndir the sunne;

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Avarice;   Miser;   The Topic Concordance - Company;   Vanity;  

Dictionaries:

- Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Sirach;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes, Book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- The Jewish Encyclopedia - Death, Angel of;   Jephthah;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for September 16;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Again, I saw futility under the sun:
Hebrew Names Version
Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.
King James Version
Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.
English Standard Version
Again, I saw vanity under the sun:
New American Standard Bible
Then I looked again at futility under the sun.
New Century Version
Again I saw something here on earth that was useless:
Amplified Bible
Then I looked again at vanity under the sun [in one of its peculiar forms].
World English Bible
Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Againe I returned, and sawe vanitie vnder the sunne.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then I looked again at vanity under the sun.
Berean Standard Bible
Again, I saw futility under the sun.
Contemporary English Version
Once again I saw that nothing on earth makes sense.
Complete Jewish Bible
Then I turned my attention to something else under the sun that is pointless:
Darby Translation
And I returned and saw vanity under the sun.
Easy-to-Read Version
Again I saw something else that didn't make sense:
George Lamsa Translation
Then I turned, and I saw vanity under the sun.
Good News Translation
I have noticed something else in life that is useless.
Lexham English Bible
I turned again and saw another vanity under the sun.
Literal Translation
Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Morouer, I turned me, and beholde yet another vanite vnder the Sonne.
American Standard Version
Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.
Bible in Basic English
Then I came back, and I saw an example of what is to no purpose under the sun.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.
King James Version (1611)
Then I returned, and I saw vanitie vnder the Sunne.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Moreouer I turned me, and beholde yet another vanitie vnder the sunne.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
So I returned, and saw vanity under the sun.
English Revised Version
Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.
Update Bible Version
Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.
Webster's Bible Translation
Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.
New English Translation
So I again considered another futile thing on earth:
New King James Version
Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun:
New Living Translation
I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun.
New Life Bible
Then I looked again at what is of no use under the sun.
New Revised Standard
Again, I saw vanity under the sun:
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then again, I, looked at a vain thing under the sun: -
Douay-Rheims Bible
Considering I found also another vanity under the sun:
Revised Standard Version
Again, I saw vanity under the sun:
Young's Literal Translation
And I have turned, and I see a vain thing under the sun:
THE MESSAGE
I turned my head and saw yet another wisp of smoke on its way to nothingness: a solitary person, completely alone—no children, no family, no friends—yet working obsessively late into the night, compulsively greedy for more and more, never bothering to ask, "Why am I working like a dog, never having any fun? And who cares?" More smoke. A bad business.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then I looked again at vanity under the sun.

Contextual Overview

7 I bihelde and foond also another vanytee vndir the sunne; 8 oon is, and he hath not a secounde; not a sone, not a brother; and netheles he ceesith not for to trauele, nether hise iyen ben fillid with richessis; nether he bithenkith, and seith, To whom trauele Y, and disseyue my soule in goodis? In this also is vanyte, and the worste turment. 9 Therfor it is betere, that tweyne be togidere than oon; for thei han profite of her felouschipe. 10 If oon fallith doun, he schal be vndurset of the tothere; wo to hym that is aloone, for whanne he fallith, he hath noon reisynge him. 11 And if tweyne slepen, thei schulen be nurschid togidere; hou schal oon be maad hoot? 12 And if ony man hath maistri ayens oon, tweyne ayen stonden hym; a threfolde corde is brokun of hard.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Ecclesiastes 4:1, Psalms 78:33, Zechariah 1:6

Reciprocal: Psalms 39:6 - surely Ecclesiastes 1:3 - under Ecclesiastes 8:9 - this Ecclesiastes 10:5 - an evil

Cross-References

Genesis 3:16
Also God seide to the womman, Y schal multiplie thi wretchidnessis and thi conseyuyngis; in sorewe thou schalt bere thi children; and thou schalt be vndur power of the hosebonde, and he schal be lord of thee.
Genesis 4:6
And the Lord seide to hym, Whi art thou wrooth, and whi felde doun thi face?
Genesis 4:8
And Cayn seide to Abel his brother, Go we out. And whanne thei weren in the feeld, Cayn roos ayens his brother Abel, and killide him.
Genesis 4:9
And the Lord seide to Cayn, Where is Abel thi brother? Which answerde, Y woot not; whether Y am the kepere of my brothir?
Genesis 4:10
And God seide to Cayn, What hast thou do? the vois of the blood of thi brother crieth to me fro erthe.
Genesis 4:11
Now therfor thou schalt be cursid on erthe, that openyde his mouth, and resseyuede of thin hond the blood of thi brothir.
Genesis 4:12
Whanne thou schalt worche the erthe, it schal not yyue his fruytis to thee; thou schalt be vnstable of dwellyng and fleynge aboute on erthe in alle the daies of thi lijf.
Genesis 4:13
And Cayn seide to the Lord, My wickidnesse is more than that Y disserue foryyuenesse; lo!
Genesis 19:21
And he seide to Loth, Lo! also in this Y haue resseyued thi preieris, that Y distrye not the citee, for which thou hast spoke;
Numbers 32:23
But if ye doon not that, that ye seien, it is not doute to ony man, that ne ye synnen ayens God; and wite ye, that youre synne schal take you.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun. Another vanity besides what he had taken notice of, and is as follows. Aben Ezra's note is,

"I turned from considering the words of this fool, and I saw another fool, the reverse of the former.''

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The spectacle of a prosperous man whose condition is rendered vain by his brotherless, childless isolation.

Ecclesiastes 4:8

A second - Any one associated or connected with him.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Compare a saying from the Talmud: “A man without companions is like the left hand without the right.”


 
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