שָׁוְא shâvᵉʼ

Meaning

evil (as destructive), literally (ruin) or morally (especially guile); figuratively idolatry (as false, subjective), uselessness (as deceptive, objective; also adverbially, in vain)

In the King James Version: false(-ly), lie, lying, vain, vanity.

Derivation: or שַׁו; from the same as H7722 (שׁוֹא) in the sense of desolating;

Where it is used

• Exodus 20:7 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.
• Exodus 23:1 “You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness.
• Deuteronomy 5:11 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.
• Deuteronomy 5:20 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
• Job 7:3 So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed to me.
• Job 11:11 Surely He knows the deceit of men. If He sees iniquity, does He not take note?
• Job 15:31 Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward.
• Job 31:5 If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has rushed to deceit,
• Job 35:13 Surely God does not listen to empty pleas, and the Almighty does not take note of it.
• Psalms 12:2 They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
• Psalms 24:4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear deceitfully.
• Psalms 26:4 I do not sit with deceitful men, nor keep company with hypocrites.
• Psalms 31:6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols, but in the LORD I trust.
• Psalms 41:6 My visitor speaks falsehood; he gathers slander in his heart; he goes out and spreads it abroad.
• Psalms 60:11 Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless.
• Psalms 89:47 Remember the briefness of my lifespan! For what futility You have created all men!
• Psalms 108:12 Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless.
• Psalms 119:37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word.
• Psalms 127:1 A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.
• Psalms 127:2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat—for He gives sleep to His beloved.
• Psalms 139:20 who speak of You deceitfully; Your enemies take Your name in vain.
• Psalms 144:8 whose mouths speak falsehood, whose right hands are deceitful.
• Psalms 144:11 Set me free and rescue me from the grasp of foreigners, whose mouths speak falsehood, whose right hands are deceitful.
• Proverbs 30:8 Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread that is my portion.
• Isaiah 1:13 Bring your worthless offerings no more; your incense is detestable to Me. New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations—I cannot endure iniquity in a solemn assembly.
• Isaiah 5:18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes,
• Isaiah 30:28 His breath is like a rushing torrent that rises to the neck. He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destruction; He bridles the jaws of the peoples to lead them astray.
• Isaiah 59:4 No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case honestly. They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies; they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
• Jeremiah 2:30 “I have struck your sons in vain; they accepted no discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a voracious lion.”
• Jeremiah 4:30 And you, O devastated one, what will you do, though you dress yourself in scarlet, though you adorn yourself with gold jewelry, though you enlarge your eyes with paint? You adorn yourself in vain; your lovers despise you; they want to take your life.
• Jeremiah 6:29 The bellows blow fiercely, blasting away the lead with fire. The refining proceeds in vain, for the wicked are not purged.
• Jeremiah 18:15 Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of on the highway.
• Jeremiah 46:11 Go up to Gilead for balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt! In vain you try many remedies, but for you there is no healing.
• Lamentations 2:14 The visions of your prophets were empty and deceptive; they did not expose your guilt to ward off your captivity. The burdens they envisioned for you were empty and misleading.
• Ezekiel 12:24 For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations within the house of Israel,
• Ezekiel 13:6 They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.
• Ezekiel 13:7 Haven’t you seen a false vision and spoken a lying divination when you proclaim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ even though I have not spoken?
• Ezekiel 13:8 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have uttered vain words and seen false visions, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD.
• Ezekiel 13:9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and speak lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of My people or be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.
• Ezekiel 13:23 therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. I will deliver My people from your hands. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”
• Ezekiel 21:23 It will seem like a false omen to the eyes of those who have sworn allegiance to him, but it will draw attention to their guilt and take them captive.
• Ezekiel 21:29 while they offer false visions for you and lying divinations about you—to be placed on the necks of the wicked who are slain, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment.
• Ezekiel 22:28 Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.
• Hosea 10:4 They speak mere words; with false oaths they make covenants. So judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.
• Hosea 12:11 Is there iniquity in Gilead? They will surely come to nothing. Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stones in the furrows of the field.
• Jonah 2:8 Those who cling to worthless idols forsake His loving devotion.
• Zechariah 10:2 For idols speak deceit and diviners see illusions; they tell false dreams and offer empty comfort. Therefore the people wander like sheep, oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
• Malachi 3:14 You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?