Ecclesiastes 4:7

Young's Literal Translation

And I have turned, and I see a vain thing under the sun:

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.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
I bihelde and foond also another vanytee vndir the sunne;

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:

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 And I have turned, and I see a vain thing under the sun: ⁸ There is one, and there is not a second; even son or brother he hath not, and there is no end to all his labour! His eye also is not satisfied with riches, and [he saith not], `For whom am I labouring and bereaving my soul of good?' This also is vanity, it is a sad travail. ⁹ The two [are] better than the one, in that they have a good reward by their labour. ¹⁰ For if they fall, the one raiseth up his companion, but wo to the one who falleth and there is not a second to raise him up! ¹¹ Also, if two lie down, then they have heat, but how hath one heat? ¹² And if the one strengthen himself, the two stand against him; and the threefold cord is not hastily broken.

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
Unto the woman He said, `Multiplying I multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, in sorrow dost thou bear children, and toward thy husband [is] thy desire, and he doth rule over thee.'

Genesis 4:6
And Jehovah saith unto Cain, `Why hast thou displeasure? and why hath thy countenance fallen?

Genesis 4:8
And Cain saith unto Abel his brother, [`Let us go into the field;'] and it cometh to pass in their being in the field, that Cain riseth up against Abel his brother, and slayeth him.

Genesis 4:9
And Jehovah saith unto Cain, `Where [is] Abel thy brother?' and he saith, `I have not known; my brother's keeper -- I?'

Genesis 4:10
And He saith, `What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood is crying unto Me from the ground;

Genesis 4:11
and now, cursed [art] thou from the ground, which hath opened her mouth to receive the blood of thy brother from thy hand;

Genesis 4:12
when thou tillest the ground, it doth not add to give its strength to thee -- a wanderer, even a trembling one, thou art in the earth.'

Genesis 4:13
And Cain saith unto Jehovah, `Greater is my punishment than to be borne;

Genesis 19:21
And he saith unto him, `Lo, I have accepted thy face also for this thing, without overthrowing the city [for] which thou hast spoken;

Numbers 32:23
`And if ye do not so, lo, ye have sinned against Jehovah, and know ye your sin, that it doth find 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.”