The Lord ¹  said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord. Look, the Lord is ready to pass by.” A very powerful wind went before the Lord, digging into the mountain and causing landslides, ²  but the Lord was not in the wind. After the windstorm there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

But God remembered ¹  Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over ²  the earth and the waters receded.

The seven lean, bad-looking cows that came up after them represent seven years, as do the seven empty heads of grain burned with the east wind. They represent ¹  seven years of famine.

and the Lord turned a very strong west wind, ¹  and it picked up the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. ²  Not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt.

Moses stretched out his hand toward the sea, and the Lord drove the sea apart ¹  by a strong east wind all that night, and he made the sea into dry land, and the water was divided.

for this is what the Lord says, ‘You will not feel ¹  any wind or see any rain, but this valley will be full of water and you and your cattle and animals will drink.’

and suddenly ¹  a great wind ²  swept across ³  the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they died! And I – only I alone – escaped to tell you!”

and lays the beams of the upper rooms of his palace on the rain clouds. ¹  He makes the clouds his chariot, and travels along on the wings of the wind. ² 

So I decided ¹  to discern the benefit of ²  wisdom and knowledge over ³  foolish behavior and ideas; ⁴  however, I concluded ⁵  that even ⁶  this endeavor ⁷  is like ⁸  trying to chase the wind! ⁹ 

Then I considered ¹  all the skillful work ²  that is done: Surely it is nothing more than ³  competition ⁴  between one person and another. ⁵  This also is profitless – like ⁶  chasing the wind.

There is no end to all the people ¹  nor to the past generations, ²  yet future generations ³  will not rejoice in him. This also is profitless and like ⁴  chasing the wind.

It is better to be content with ¹  what the eyes can see ²  than for one’s heart always to crave more. ³  This continual longing ⁴  is futile – like ⁵  chasing the wind.

Just as no one has power over the wind to restrain it, ¹  so no one has power over the day of his ²  death. Just as no one can be discharged during the battle, ³  so wickedness cannot rescue the wicked. ⁴ 

Just as you do not know the path ¹  of the wind, or how the bones form ²  in the womb of a pregnant woman, ³  so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

It was reported to the family ¹  of David, “Syria has allied with ²  Ephraim.” They and their people were emotionally shaken, just as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. ³ 

He will wind you up tightly into a ball and throw you into a wide, open land. ¹  There you will die, and there with you will be your impressive chariots, ²  which bring disgrace to the house of your master. ³ 

Each of them ¹  will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from a rainstorm; like streams of water in a dry region and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land.

Indeed, they are barely planted; yes, they are barely sown; yes, they barely take root in the earth, and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up, and the wind carries them away like straw.

In the west, people respect ¹  the Lord’s reputation; ²  in the east they recognize his splendor. ³  For he comes like a rushing ⁴  stream driven on by wind sent from the Lord. ⁵ 

We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in your sight. ¹  We all wither like a leaf; our sins carry us away like the wind.