Ecclesiastes 12:8

Modern

“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile!”

Traditional

Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.

Literal

“Vapor of vapors,” says the Qoheleth; “All is vapor!”

Latin

Vanitas vanitatum, dixit Ecclesiastes, et omnia vanitas.

Hebrew

English

“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile!”

This almost exact repetition of Ecclesiastes 1:2 summarizes the Teacher's conclusion.

Ecclesiastes 1:2
“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”
Ecclesiastes 8:8
As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
Ecclesiastes 6:12
For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?
Psalm 62:9
Lowborn men are but a vapor; the exalted are but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.
Ecclesiastes 1:14
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.
Ecclesiastes 4:4
I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
Ecclesiastes 2:17
So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.