⁴ And I said, 'For a vain thing I laboured, For emptiness and vanity my power I consumed, But my judgment 'is' with Jehovah, And my wage with my God.

⁴ But I said, "I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God."

⁴ I replied, "But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose. Yet I leave it all in the Lord 's hand; I will trust God for my reward."