they ¹  set those on the breasts and he offered the fat parts up in smoke on the altar.

“Then he is to offer up the fat of the sin offering ¹  in smoke on the altar,

“Absolutely futile!” ¹  laments the Teacher, ²  “All of these things ³  are futile!” ⁴ 

Look up at the sky! Look at the earth below! For the sky will dissipate ¹  like smoke, and the earth will wear out like clothes; its residents will die like gnats. But the deliverance I give ²  is permanent; the vindication I provide ³  will not disappear. ⁴ 

Look, the name ¹  of the Lord comes from a distant place in raging anger and awesome splendor. ²  He speaks angrily and his word is like destructive fire. ³ 

“I am against you!” declares ¹  the Lord who commands armies: ²  “I will burn your chariots ³  with fire; ⁴  the sword will devour your young lions; ⁵  you will no longer prey upon the land; ⁶  the voices of your messengers ⁷  will no longer be heard.”

I will offer up to you fattened animals as burnt sacrifices, along with the smell of sacrificial rams. I will offer cattle and goats. (Selah)

Then the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar as a food gift to the Lord. ¹ 

– just as it is taken from the ox of the peace offering sacrifice ¹  – and the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering.

Then the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar ¹  as a gift to the Lord. It is a guilt offering.

and the priest must offer the fat up in smoke on the altar, but the breast will belong to Aaron and his sons.

Then he ¹  cut the ram into parts, ²  and Moses offered the head, the parts, and the suet up in smoke,

The burnt offering itself they handed ¹  to him by its parts, including the head, ²  and he offered them up in smoke on the altar,

and he washed the entrails and the legs and offered them up in smoke on top of the burnt offering on the altar.

“Futile! Futile!” laments ¹  the Teacher, ²  “Absolutely futile! ³  Everything ⁴  is futile!” ⁵ 

They are worthless, objects to be ridiculed. When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.

Tell him, ‘Make sure you stay calm! ¹  Don’t be afraid! Don’t be intimidated ²  by these two stubs of smoking logs, ³  or by the raging anger of Rezin, Syria, and the son of Remaliah.

I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man ¹  on earth, ²  and I concluded: Everything ³  he has accomplished ⁴  is futile ⁵  – like chasing the wind! ⁶ 

The Lord will be unwilling to forgive him, and his intense anger ¹  will rage ²  against that man; all the curses ³  written in this scroll will fall upon him ⁴  and the Lord will obliterate his name from memory. ⁵ 

So ¹  I again considered ²  another ³  futile thing on earth: ⁴