The Lord who rules over all ¹  says to the people of Jerusalem: ²  “Do not listen to what those prophets are saying to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They are reporting visions of their own imaginations, not something the Lord has given them to say. ³ 

I loathe ¹  it; ²  I do not want to live forever; leave me alone, ³  for my days are a vapor! ⁴ 

The one who sows ¹  iniquity will reap trouble, and the rod of his fury ²  will end.

All the nations are insignificant before him; they are regarded as absolutely nothing. ¹ 

He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing; he makes the earth’s leaders insignificant.

Look, all of them are nothing, ¹  their accomplishments are nonexistent; their metal images lack any real substance. ² 

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

You men, ¹  how long will you try to turn my honor into shame? ²  How long ³  will you love what is worthless ⁴  and search for what is deceptive? ⁵  (Selah)

Surely people go through life as mere ghosts. ¹  Surely they accumulate worthless wealth without knowing who will eventually haul it away.” ² 

So I loathed ¹  life ²  because what happens ³  on earth ⁴  seems awful to me; for all the benefits of wisdom ⁵  are futile – like chasing the wind.

For all day long ¹  his work produces pain and frustration, ²  and even at night his mind cannot relax! ³  This also is futile!

The one who loves money ¹  will never be satisfied with money, ²  he who loves wealth ³  will never be satisfied ⁴  with his ⁵  income. This also is futile.

Be sure of this! The Lord who commands armies has decreed: The nations’ efforts will go up in smoke; their exhausting work will be for nothing. ¹ 

Then I said, ¹  “Lord, you give me strength and protect me. You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble. ²  Nations from all over the earth will come to you and say, ‘Our ancestors had nothing but false gods – worthless idols that could not help them at all. ³ 

Men are nothing but a mere breath; human beings are unreliable. ¹  When they are weighed in the scales, all of them together are lighter than air. ² 

So I thought to myself, “The fate of the fool will happen even to me! ¹  Then what did I gain by becoming so excessively ²  wise?” ³  So I lamented to myself, ⁴  “The benefits of wisdom ⁵  are ultimately ⁶  meaningless!”

Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet ¹  he will be master over all the fruit of ²  my labor ³  for which I worked so wisely ⁴  on earth! ⁵  This also is futile!

For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; however, he must hand over ¹  the fruit of his labor ²  as an inheritance ³  to someone else who did not work for it. This also is futile, and an awful injustice! ⁴ 

Do not bring any more meaningless ¹  offerings; I consider your incense detestable! ²  You observe new moon festivals, Sabbaths, and convocations, but I cannot tolerate sin-stained celebrations! ³ 

His battle cry overwhelms like a flooding river ¹  that reaches one’s neck. He shakes the nations in a sieve that isolates the chaff; ²  he puts a bit into the mouth of the nations and leads them to destruction. ³