| Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. | If the Lord does not build the house, those who construct it labor in vain. If the Lord does not guard the city, those who keep watch over it do so in vain. |
| Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. | You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain, for the Lord will not consider blameless those who take his name in vain. |
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| Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. | Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but the woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. |
| Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. | Therefore, my beloved brethren, stand firm and immovable, devoting yourselves completely to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. |
| But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. | When you pray do not go on babbling endlessly as the pagans do, for they believe that they are more likely to be heard because of their many words. |
| I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. | I do not set aside the grace of God, for if justification comes through the Law, then Christ died for nothing. |
| Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. | And now, brethren, I want to remind you of the gospel I proclaimed to you, which you received and in which you stand firm. Through it you are also being saved, provided that you are holding fast to what I proclaimed to you. If not, then you have believed in vain. |
| If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. | If anyone thinks that he is religious but does not restrain his tongue, he is deceiving himself, and his religion is worthless. |
| Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. | Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vanity, but humbly regard others as better than yourselves. |
| Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. | For you are aware that you were ransomed from your futile way of life inherited from your ancestors not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. |
| For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. | For the carved images of the nations are powerless; they are nothing more than wood cut from a forest, fashioned with a knife by craftsmen and embellished with silver and gold. Then they are fastened with hammers and nails to prevent them from toppling. Like scarecrows in a cucumber field they are unable to speak, and they must be carried from place to place since they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they can do no harm, nor do they have any power to do good. |
