Ecclesiastes 7 Cross References - MSB

¹ A good name is better than fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth. ² It is better to enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart. ³ Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad countenance is good for the heart. ⁴ The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure. ⁵ It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to the song of fools. ⁶ For like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile. ⁷ Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart. ⁸ The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one. ⁹ Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool. ¹⁰ Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is unwise of you to ask about this. ¹¹ Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun. ¹² For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner. ¹³ Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent? ¹⁴ In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come after him. ¹⁵ In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness. ¹⁶ Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? ¹⁷ Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time? ¹⁸ It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings. ¹⁹ Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city. ²⁰ Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. ²¹ Do not pay attention to every word that is spoken, or you may hear your servant cursing you. ²² For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others. ²³ All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me. ²⁴ What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it? ²⁵ I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness. ²⁶ And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared. ²⁷ “Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation. ²⁸ While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman. ²⁹ Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made men upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”

¹⁷ There the wicked cease from raging, and there the weary find rest.

² It is like fine oil on the head, running down on the beard, running down Aaron’s beard over the collar of his robes.

³⁰ The light of the eyes cheers the heart, and good news nourishes the bones.

¹ A good name is more desirable than great riches; favor is better than silver and gold.

⁹ Oil and incense bring joy to the heart, and the sweetness of a friend is counsel to the soul.

² So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive.

¹ As dead flies bring a stench to the perfumer’s oil, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

³ The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens adore you.

¹⁰ How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! Your love is much better than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than all spices.

⁵ I will give them, in My house and within My walls, a memorial and a name better than that of sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.

¹ The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; devout men are swept away, while no one considers that the righteous are guided from the presence of evil. ² Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest, lying down in death.

²⁰ Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

² The evening meal was underway, and the devil had already put into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

¹ Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

⁸ We are confident, then, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

²¹ For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²² But if I go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. So what shall I choose? I do not know. ²³ I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

² This is why the ancients were commended.

³⁹ These were all commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.

¹³ And I heard a voice from heaven telling me to write, “Blessed are the dead—those who die in the Lord from this moment on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, and their deeds will follow them.”

¹ Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. ² When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up in bed. ³ Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me ⁴ and told me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you; I will make you a multitude of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’ ⁵ And now your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here shall be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. ⁶ Any children born to you after them shall be yours, and they shall be called by the names of their brothers in the territory they inherit. ⁷ Now as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way in the land of Canaan, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem). ⁸ When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?” ⁹ Joseph said to his father, “They are the sons God has given me in this place.” So Jacob said, “Please bring them to me, that I may bless them.” ¹⁰ Now Israel’s eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly see. Joseph brought his sons to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹ “I never expected to see your face again,” Israel said to Joseph, “but now God has let me see your children as well.” ¹² Then Joseph removed his sons from his father’s knees and bowed facedown. ¹³ And Joseph took both of them—with Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand—and brought them close to him. ¹⁴ But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger; and crossing his hands, he put his left on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was the firstborn. ¹⁵ Then he blessed Joseph and said: “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, ¹⁶ the angel who has redeemed me from all harm—may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.” ¹⁷ When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he was displeased and took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s. ¹⁸ “Not so, my father!” Joseph said. “This one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.” ¹⁹ But his father refused. “I know, my son, I know!” he said. “He too shall become a people, and he too shall be great; nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” ²⁰ So that day Jacob blessed them and said: “By you shall Israel pronounce this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh. ²¹ Then Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. ²² And to you, as one who is above your brothers, I give the ridge of land that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”

² Come together and listen, O sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel. ³ Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. ⁴ Uncontrolled as the waters, you will no longer excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, onto my couch, and defiled it. ⁵ Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence. ⁶ May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim. ⁷ Cursed be their anger, for it is strong, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. ⁸ Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you. ⁹ Judah is a young lion—my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him? ¹⁰ The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his. ¹¹ He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. ¹² His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk. ¹³ Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore and become a harbor for ships; his border shall extend to Sidon. ¹⁴ Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds. ¹⁵ He saw that his resting place was good and that his land was pleasant, so he bent his shoulder to the burden and submitted to labor as a servant. ¹⁶ Dan shall provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel. ¹⁷ He will be a snake by the road, a viper in the path that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider tumbles backward. ¹⁸ I await Your salvation, O LORD. ¹⁹ Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels. ²⁰ Asher’s food will be rich; he shall provide royal delicacies. ²¹ Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns. ²² Joseph is a fruitful vine—a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall. ²³ The archers attacked him with bitterness; they aimed at him in hostility. ²⁴ Yet he steadied his bow, and his strong arms were tempered by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, in the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, ²⁵ by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you, with blessings of the heavens above, with blessings of the depths below, with blessings of the breasts and womb. ²⁶ The blessings of your father have surpassed the blessings of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the everlasting hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers. ²⁷ Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.” ²⁸ These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this was what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing. ²⁹ Then Jacob instructed them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. ³⁰ The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site. ³¹ There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and there I buried Leah. ³² The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.” ³³ When Jacob had finished instructing his sons, he pulled his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and he was gathered to his people.

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge? Then he will surely repay us for all the evil that we did to him.” ¹⁶ So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Before he died, your father commanded, ¹⁷ ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I beg you, please forgive the transgression and sin of your brothers, for they did you wrong.’ So now, Joseph, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

¹⁰ Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous; let my end be like theirs!”

²⁹ If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.

⁴⁶ he said to them, “Take to heart all these words I testify among you today, so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law.

⁴ Job’s sons would take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵ And when the days of feasting were over, Job would send for his children to purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.

¹² So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.

¹¹ Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger into the evening, to be inflamed by wine. ¹² At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands.

¹² On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth. ¹³ But look, there is joy and gladness, butchering of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” ¹⁴ The LORD of Hosts has revealed in my hearing: “Until your dying day, this sin of yours will never be atoned for,” says the Lord GOD of Hosts.

⁷ You said, ‘I will be queen forever.’ You did not take these things to heart or consider their outcome.

³ You dismiss the day of calamity and bring near a reign of violence. ⁴ You lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches. You dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall. ⁵ You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments. ⁶ You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you fail to grieve over the ruin of Joseph.

⁵ Now this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways.

² If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name,” says the LORD of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already begun to curse them, because you are not taking it to heart.

⁴ Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

⁶ On Herod’s birthday, however, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod ⁷ so much that he promised with an oath to give to her whatever she asked. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹ The king was grieved, but because of his oaths and his guests, he ordered that her wish be granted ¹⁰ and sent to have John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ John’s head was brought in on a platter and presented to the girl, who carried it to her mother. ¹² Then John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. And they went and informed Jesus.

²¹ What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death. ²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to holiness, and the outcome is eternal life.

¹⁹ Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.

²⁷ Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,

³ For we have spent enough of our past lifetime carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry. ⁴ Because of this, they consider it strange of you not to plunge with them into the same flood of reckless indiscretion, and they heap abuse on you.

⁶⁷ Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now I keep Your word.

⁷¹ It was good for me to be afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes.

⁵ Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy. ⁶ He who goes out weeping, bearing a trail of seed, will surely return with shouts of joy, carrying sheaves of grain.

⁸ Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, including the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor. They will return as a great assembly! ⁹ They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s Father, and Ephraim is My firstborn.”

¹⁵ This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” ¹⁶ This is what the LORD says: “Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for the reward for your work will come, declares the LORD. Then your children will return from the land of the enemy. ¹⁷ So there is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children will return to their own land. ¹⁸ I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God. ¹⁹ After I returned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ ²⁰ Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD.

⁴ “In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, the children of Israel and the children of Judah will come together, weeping as they come, and will seek the LORD their God. ⁵ They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.

³ So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. ⁴ And I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed, “O, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of loving devotion to those who love Him and keep His commandments, ⁵ we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances. ⁶ We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, leaders, and fathers, and to all the people of the land. ⁷ To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You have driven us because of our unfaithfulness to You. ⁸ O LORD, we are covered with shame—our kings, our leaders, and our fathers—because we have sinned against You. ⁹ To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, even though we have rebelled against Him ¹⁰ and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God to walk in His laws, which He set before us through His servants the prophets. ¹¹ All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey Your voice; so the oath and the curse written in the Law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us, because we have sinned against You. ¹² You have carried out the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us a great disaster. For under all of heaven, nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. ¹³ Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquities and giving attention to Your truth. ¹⁴ Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it upon us. For the LORD our God is righteous in all He does; yet we have not obeyed His voice. ¹⁵ Now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and who made for Yourself a name renowned to this day, we have sinned; we have acted wickedly. ¹⁶ O Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, I pray that Your anger and wrath may turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all around us. ¹⁷ So now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your desolate sanctuary. ¹⁸ Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You because of our righteous acts, but because of Your great compassion. ¹⁹ O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name.”

² In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks. ³ I ate no rich food, no meat or wine entered my mouth, and I did not anoint myself with oil until the three weeks were completed.

¹⁹ “Do not be afraid, you who are highly precious,” he said. “Peace be with you! Be strong now; be very strong!” As he spoke with me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, for you have strengthened me.”

¹⁰ Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son. ¹¹ On that day the wailing in Jerusalem will be as great as the wailing of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. ¹² The land will mourn, each clan on its own: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, ¹³ the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, ¹⁴ and all the remaining clans and their wives.

²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

²⁵ Woe to you who are well fed, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

²⁰ Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. ²¹ A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. ²² So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

³ Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope.

¹⁷ For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.

⁹ And now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us. ¹⁰ Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. ¹¹ Consider what this godly sorrow of yours has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what vindication! In every way you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

¹⁰ Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness. ¹¹ No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it.

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴ Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

⁸ Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

³⁶ When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.

¹⁶ So he led David down, and there were the Amalekites spread out over all the land, eating, drinking, and celebrating the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.

²⁸ Now Absalom had ordered his young men, “Watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine, and when I order you to strike Amnon down, you are to kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant!”

¹⁶ They marched out at noon while Ben-hadad and the 32 kings allied with him were in their tents getting drunk.

² so the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, though you are not ill? This could only be sadness of the heart.” I was overwhelmed with fear ³ and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I not be sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” ⁴ “What is your request?” replied the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven ⁵ and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city where my fathers are buried, so that I may rebuild it.”

⁴ My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight of my desire has turned to horror.

³ He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. ⁴ Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted.

³⁹ While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast, and I will make them drunk so that they may revel; then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up, declares the LORD.

⁵⁷ I will make her princes and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and not wake up,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.

¹ Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them. ² Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines. ³ Thus they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king drank from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines. ⁴ As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

³⁰ That very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain,

⁵ The princes are inflamed with wine on the day of our king; so he joins hands with those who mock him.

¹⁰ For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard—like stubble that is fully dry.

¹⁴ When Jesus arrived at Peter’s house, He saw Peter’s mother-in-law sick in bed with a fever. ¹⁵ So He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve Him. ¹⁶ When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to Jesus, and He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.

³⁸ When He arrived at the house of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw the commotion and the people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹ He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but asleep.” ⁴⁰ And they laughed at Him. After He had put them all outside, He took the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and went in where the child was lying. ⁴¹ Taking her by the hand, Jesus said, “Talitha koumi!” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” ⁴² Immediately the girl got up and began to walk around. She was twelve years old, and at once they were utterly astounded. ⁴³ Then Jesus gave strict orders that no one should know about this, and He told them to give her something to eat.

²¹ On Herod’s birthday, her opportunity arose. Herod held a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²² When the daughter of Herodias came and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests, and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” ²³ And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom!” ²⁴ Then she went out and asked her mother, “What should I request?” And her mother answered, “The head of John the Baptist.” ²⁵ At once the girl hurried back to the king with her request: “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter immediately.” ²⁶ The king was consumed with sorrow, but because of his oaths and his guests, he did not want to refuse her. ²⁷ So without delay, the king commanded that John’s head be brought in. He sent an executioner, who went and beheaded him in the prison. ²⁸ The man brought John’s head on a platter and presented it to the girl, who gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When John’s disciples heard about this, they came and took his body and placed it in a tomb.

¹² As He approached the town gate, He saw a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said, “Do not weep.”

³¹ When the Jews who were in the house consoling Mary saw how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, saying that she was going to the tomb to mourn there. ³² When Mary came to Jesus and saw Him, she fell at His feet and said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ³⁴ “Where have you put him?” He asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they answered. ³⁵ Jesus wept.

¹² Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of drunkards.

⁵ Let the righteous man strike me; let his rebuke be an act of loving devotion. It is oil for my head; let me not refuse it. For my prayer is ever against the deeds of the wicked.

⁸ Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.

¹³ He who despises instruction will pay the penalty, but the one who respects a command will be rewarded.

¹⁸ Poverty and shame come to him who ignores discipline, but whoever heeds correction is honored.

³¹ He who listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. ³² He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.

¹⁰ A rebuke cuts into a man of discernment deeper than a hundred lashes cut into a fool.

⁶ The wounds of a friend are faithful, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

¹⁹ Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.

⁹ Before your pots can feel the burning thorns—whether green or dry—He will sweep them away.

¹² They swarmed around me like bees, but they were extinguished like burning thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off.

⁹ If a wise man goes to court with a fool, there will be raving and laughing with no resolution.

² I said of laughter, “It is folly,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?”

¹³ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: “My servants will eat, but you will go hungry; My servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame. ¹⁴ My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart, but you will cry out with a heavy heart and wail with a broken spirit. ¹⁵ You will leave behind your name as a curse for My chosen ones, and the Lord GOD will slay you; but to His servants He will give another name.

¹⁰ I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.

²⁵ But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

¹³ They will receive the wages is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception as they feast with you. ¹⁴ Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed. ¹⁵ They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bosor, who loved the wages of wickedness. ¹⁶ But he was rebuked for his transgression by a donkey, otherwise without speech, that spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. ¹⁷ These men are springs without water and clouds driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is forever reserved for them.

¹² These men are hidden reefs in your love feasts, shamelessly feasting with you but shepherding only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried along by the wind; fruitless trees in autumn, twice dead after being uprooted. ¹³ They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

⁸ Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.

¹⁹ Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

³³ A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed. ³⁴ You will be driven mad by the sights you see.

⁶⁵ Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.

³ But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside toward dishonest gain, accepting bribes and perverting justice.

³ Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.”

⁸ A bribe is a charm to its giver; wherever he turns, he succeeds.

²³ A wicked man takes a covert bribe to subvert the course of justice.

¹ Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.

²³ Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.

¹⁵ He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—

¹⁰ Arrogance leads only to strife, but wisdom is with the well-advised.

²⁹ A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.

¹⁸ A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.

³² He who is slow to anger is better than a warrior, and he who controls his temper is greater than one who captures a city.

²⁵ A greedy man stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper.

²⁴ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD of Hosts says: “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria, who strikes you with a rod and lifts his staff against you as the Egyptians did. ²⁵ For in just a little while My fury against you will subside, and My anger will turn to their destruction.”

²⁸ Assyria has entered Aiath and passed through Migron, storing their supplies at Michmash. ²⁹ They have crossed at the ford: “We will spend the night at Geba.” Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees. ³⁰ Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! O wretched Anathoth! ³¹ Madmenah flees; the people of Gebim take refuge. ³² Yet today they will halt at Nob, shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem. ³³ Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled. ³⁴ He will clear the forest thickets with an axe, and Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.

¹⁹ By your patient endurance you will gain your souls.

⁷ To those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life. ⁸ But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be anger and wrath.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

³⁶ You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.

⁸ You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.

¹¹ See how blessed we consider those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. He is full of compassion and mercy.

¹³ Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

²⁰ How is it to your credit if you are beaten for doing wrong and you endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. ²¹ For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His footsteps:

⁵ Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility, being subject to one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” ⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you.

⁵ but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell. ⁶ “Why are you angry,” said the LORD to Cain, “and why has your countenance fallen?

⁸ Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

⁷ When Jacob’s sons heard what had happened, they returned from the field. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done. ⁸ But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife.

²⁵ Three days later, while they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons (Dinah’s brothers Simeon and Levi) took their swords, went into the unsuspecting city, and slaughtered every male. ²⁶ They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away.

³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land. We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.” ³¹ But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”

²¹ Now David had just finished saying, “In vain I have protected all that belonged to this man in the wilderness. Nothing that belongs to him has gone missing, yet he has paid me back evil for good. ²² May God punish David, and ever so severely, if I let one of Nabal’s men survive until morning.”

²² And Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad, because he hated Amnon for disgracing his sister Tamar.

³² But Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah, spoke up: “My lord must not think they have killed all the sons of the king, for only Amnon is dead. In fact, Absalom has planned this since the day Amnon violated his sister Tamar.

⁴³ “We have ten shares in the king,” answered the men of Israel, “so we have more claim to David than you. Why then do you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of restoring our king?” But the men of Judah pressed even harder than the men of Israel.

⁵ When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or pay him homage, he was filled with rage. ⁶ And when he learned the identity of Mordecai’s people, he scorned the notion of laying hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he sought to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the kingdom of Xerxes.

¹⁷ A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, and a devious man is hated.

²³ Like glaze covering an earthen vessel are burning lips and a wicked heart. ²⁴ A hateful man disguises himself with his speech, but he lays up deceit in his heart. ²⁵ When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart. ²⁶ Though his hatred is concealed by deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

⁹ Then God asked Jonah, “Have you any right to be angry about the plant?” “I do,” he replied. “I am angry enough to die!”

¹⁹ So Herodias held a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she had been unable,

²⁴ Then she went out and asked her mother, “What should I request?” And her mother answered, “The head of John the Baptist.”

²⁶ “Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger, ²⁷ and do not give the devil a foothold.

¹⁹ So then, my beloved brothers, everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,

¹¹ Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and full of violence. ¹² And God looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt; for all living creatures on the earth had corrupted their ways. ¹³ “Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders of which our fathers told us, saying, ‘Has not the LORD brought us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian.”

² The LORD looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if any understand, if any seek God. ³ All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

¹ This is what the LORD says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of My creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.

¹⁷ Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster. ¹⁸ But from the time we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been perishing by sword and famine.” ¹⁹ “Moreover,” said the women, “when we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands’ knowledge that we made sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. ²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another. ²⁵ They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen. ²⁶ For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷ Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. ²⁸ Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, sexual immorality, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents. ³¹ They are senseless, faithless, heartless, unforgiving, merciless. ³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.

⁹ What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin. ¹⁰ As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one. ¹¹ There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. ¹² All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” ¹³ “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The venom of vipers is on their lips.” ¹⁴ “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” ¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ¹⁶ ruin and misery lie in their wake, ¹⁷ and the way of peace they have not known.” ¹⁸ “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” ¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

⁶ Solomon replied, “You have shown much loving devotion to Your servant, my father David, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and uprightness of heart. And You have maintained this loving devotion by giving him a son to sit on his throne this very day. ⁷ And now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in my father David’s place. But I am only a little child, not knowing how to go out or come in. ⁸ Your servant is here among the people You have chosen, a people too numerous to count or number. ⁹ Therefore give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to govern this great people of Yours?”

¹⁰ Receive my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold. ¹¹ For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire compares with her.

¹³ And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness:

¹⁵ Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man. ¹⁶ And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.” ¹⁷ The calm words of the wise are heeded over the shouts of a ruler among fools. ¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

⁷ Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.

⁸ The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light. ⁹ I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves, so that when you fail, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings.

¹⁷ Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in the living God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy. ¹⁸ Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and ready to share, ¹⁹ treasuring up for themselves a firm foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of eternal life.

¹⁹ I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live, ²⁰ and that you may love the LORD your God, obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

⁴⁷ For they are not idle words to you, because they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

¹⁵ But the thornbush replied, ‘If you really are anointing me as king over you, come and find refuge in my shade. But if not, may fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁰ Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him and his household and all that he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

²¹ Reconcile now and be at peace with Him; thereby good will come to you. ²² Receive instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart. ²³ If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored. If you remove injustice from your tents ²⁴ and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines, ²⁵ then the Almighty will be your gold and the finest silver for you.

¹ For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul into the cave. Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy, for in You my soul takes refuge. In the shadow of Your wings I will take shelter until the danger has passed.

⁷ He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk with integrity,

¹¹ Discretion will watch over you, and understanding will guard you,

¹⁸ She is a tree of life to those who embrace her, and those who lay hold of her are blessed.

³⁵ For whoever finds me finds life and obtains the favor of the LORD.

¹¹ For through wisdom your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.

⁴ Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.

²⁰ The poor man is hated even by his neighbor, but many are those who love the rich.

¹⁰ The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. ¹¹ A rich man’s wealth is his fortified city; it is like a high wall in his imagination.

² They set out to go down to Egypt without asking My advice, to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection and take refuge in Egypt’s shade.

² Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land.

⁶ He will be the sure foundation for your times, a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure.

⁵⁰ And I know that His command leads to eternal life. So I speak exactly what the Father has told Me to say.”

³ Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

⁸ More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

¹² If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’

¹⁰ If He comes along to imprison you, or convenes a court, who can stop Him?

¹⁴ What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man He imprisons cannot be released.

²⁹ But when He remains silent, who can condemn Him? When He hides His face, who can see Him? Yet He watches over both man and nation,

¹⁴ Listen to this, O Job; stand still and consider the wonders of God.

³ When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place—

⁴³ Let him who is wise pay heed to these things and consider the loving devotion of the LORD.

¹⁵ What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.

¹² At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands.

²⁷ The LORD of Hosts has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is outstretched, so who can turn it back?

¹³ Even from eternity I am He, and none can deliver out of My hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”

¹⁰ I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’ ¹¹ I summon a bird of prey from the east, a man for My purpose from a far-off land. Truly I have spoken, and truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, and I will surely do it.

³⁵ All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”

¹⁵ For He says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

¹⁹ One of you will say to me, “Why does God still find fault? For who can resist His will?”

¹¹ In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,

³ He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

⁴⁷ Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance,

⁴⁷ and when they come to their senses in the land to which they were taken, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’

¹⁷ Later, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill, and his sickness grew worse and worse, until no breath remained in him. ¹⁸ “O man of God,” said the woman to Elijah, “what have you done to me? Have you come to remind me of my iniquity and cause the death of my son?”

¹² And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers. ¹³ And when he prayed to Him, the LORD received his plea and heard his petition; so He brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.

¹ “I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul. ² I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me.

¹¹ You turned my mourning into dancing; You peeled off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, ¹² that my heart may sing Your praises and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks forever.

³ He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

¹² Blessed is the man You discipline, O LORD, and teach from Your law, ¹³ to grant him relief from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked.

⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

²² I have seen that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will come after him?

⁸ “Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile!”

¹³ When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.

¹¹ O LORD, Your hand is upraised, but they do not see it. They will see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame. The fire set for Your enemies will consume them!

²⁵ So He poured out on them His furious anger and the fierceness of battle. It enveloped them in flames, but they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.

²⁰ The anger of the LORD will not turn back until He has fully accomplished the purposes of His heart. In the days to come you will understand this clearly.

⁶ Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her path with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so she cannot find her way. ⁷ She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; she will seek them but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will return to my first husband, for then I was better off than now.’

⁹ The voice of the LORD calls out to the city (and it is sound wisdom to fear Your name): “Heed the rod and the One who ordained it.

⁵ Now this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways. ⁶ You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.” ⁷ This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways.

¹³ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

¹⁷ Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food? But here I am, starving to death! ¹⁸ I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.

²² So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. ²³ In that day you will no longer ask Me anything. Truly, truly, I tell you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.

²² strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

¹³ Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.

⁹ “My travels have lasted 130 years,” Jacob replied. “My years have been few and hard, and they have not matched the years of the travels of my fathers.”

¹⁸ So the king ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests!” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests himself. On that day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. ¹⁹ He also put to the sword Nob, the city of the priests, with its men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep.

¹³ And the two scoundrels came in and sat opposite Naboth, and these men testified against him before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king!” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.

²¹ But they conspired against Zechariah, and by order of the king, they stoned him in the courtyard of the house of the LORD. ²² Thus King Joash failed to remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had extended to him. Instead, Joash killed Jehoiada’s son. As he lay dying, Zechariah said, “May the LORD see this and call you to account.”

²² It is all the same, and so I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’ ²³ When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent.

⁷ Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? ⁸ Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes. ⁹ Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them. ¹⁰ Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry. ¹¹ They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about, ¹² singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute. ¹³ They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace. ¹⁴ Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways. ¹⁵ Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’

⁶ Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.

³ For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. ⁴ They have no struggle in their death; their bodies are well-fed. ⁵ They are free of the burdens others carry; they are not afflicted like other men. ⁶ Therefore pride is their necklace; a garment of violence covers them. ⁷ From their prosperity proceeds iniquity; the imaginations of their hearts run wild. ⁸ They mock and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression. ⁹ They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongues strut across the earth. ¹⁰ So their people return to this place and drink up waters in abundance. ¹¹ The wicked say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?” ¹² Behold, these are the wicked—always carefree as they increase their wealth. ¹³ Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure; in innocence I have washed my hands.

²³ Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.

¹⁶ Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.

¹⁶ This too is a grievous evil: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind? ¹⁷ Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.

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?

¹² Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence. ¹³ Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow. ¹⁴ There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.

¹ So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate. ² It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.

⁹ Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun.

²⁰ No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days, or an old man fail to live out his years. For the youth will die at a hundred years, and he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.

¹ Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease? ² You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their hearts.

³⁴ Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute in town after town. ³⁵ And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

² They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.

⁵² Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers—

⁶ When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.

¹² But a witless man can no more become wise than the colt of a wild donkey can be born a man!

²⁸ And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

⁴ Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.

¹⁶ If you find honey, eat just what you need, lest you have too much and vomit it up.

¹² And by these, my son, be further warned: There is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body.

¹ “Be careful not to perform your acts of charity before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. ² So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. ³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will Himself reward you openly. ⁵ And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you openly. ⁷ And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard.

¹⁴ At that time John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast so often, but Your disciples do not fast?”

² “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands before they eat.” ³ Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say that if anyone says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ ⁶ then he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: ⁸ ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouths, and they honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. ⁹ They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’”

⁵ All their deeds are done for men to see. They broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.

²³ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴ You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

²⁹ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous.

³⁸ Look, your house is left to you desolate.

¹² I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’

² For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge.

²⁵ I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.

³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you.

¹⁸ Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise.

²⁰ And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”

⁶ as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless.

¹⁸ Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you with speculation about what he has not seen. Such a person is puffed up without basis by his unspiritual mind.

²³ Such restrictions indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-prescribed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body; but they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

³ They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth. ¹⁵ Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶ For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice. ¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.

¹⁹ Then they will throw dust on their heads as they weep and mourn and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, where all who had ships on the sea were enriched by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been destroyed.”

⁷ But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; so the LORD put him to death. ⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and raise up offspring for your brother.” ⁹ But Onan knew that the offspring would not belong to him; so whenever he would sleep with his brother’s wife, he would spill his seed on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother. ¹⁰ What he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, so He put Onan to death as well.

³⁸ About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead.

³² It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not flourish. ³³ He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.

¹⁶ They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood.

²³ But You, O God, will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.

²⁷ The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be cut short.

³³ How skillfully you pursue love! Even the most immoral of women could learn from your ways. ³⁴ Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things

¹⁷ “Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see this? Is it not enough for the house of Judah to commit the abominations they are practicing here, that they must also fill the land with violence and continually provoke Me to anger? Look, they are even putting the branch to their nose!

²⁰ You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough?

⁵ On hearing these words, Ananias fell down and died. And great fear came over all who heard what had happened.

¹⁰ At that instant she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

²³ Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

²¹ Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and every expression of evil, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save your souls.

¹² Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the path chosen for him. ¹³ His soul will dwell in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. ¹⁴ The LORD confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.

¹⁹ He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. ²⁰ The LORD preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.

²⁵ Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead. ²⁶ Make a level path for your feet, and all your ways will be sure. ²⁷ Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your feet away from evil.

²⁰ I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice,

¹⁴ I know that everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God does it so that they should fear Him.

¹² Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.

⁶ Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.

⁴⁰ I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put My fear in their hearts, so that they will never turn away from Me.

² “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.

⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation.

⁴² Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.

¹⁶ a wise woman called out from the city, “Listen! Listen! Please tell Joab to come here so that I may speak with him.” ¹⁷ When he had come near to her, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?” “I am,” he replied. “Listen to the words of your servant,” she said. “I am listening,” he answered. ¹⁸ Then the woman said, “Long ago they used to say, ‘Seek counsel at Abel,’ and that is how disputes were settled. ¹⁹ I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel, but you are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the LORD’s inheritance?” ²⁰ “Far be it!” Joab declared. “Far be it from me to swallow up or destroy! ²¹ That is not the case. But a man named Sheba son of Bichri, from the hill country of Ephraim, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Deliver him alone, and I will depart from the city.” “Look,” the woman replied, “his head will be thrown to you over the wall.” ²² Then the woman went to all the people with her wise counsel, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he blew the ram’s horn and his men dispersed from the city, each to his own home. And Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.

²² A wise man scales the city of the mighty and pulls down the stronghold in which they trust.

⁵ A wise man is strong, and a man of knowledge enhances his strength.

¹³ I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me: ¹⁴ There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it.

⁹ For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully

⁴⁶ When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to his own land, whether far or near,

³⁶ When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to a land far or near,

¹⁴ What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous? ¹⁵ If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes, ¹⁶ how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?

³ If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand?

² Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous before You.

⁹ Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed from my sin”?

⁶ We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.

⁶ Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

² We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.

⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.

¹⁰ But the king replied, “What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? If he curses me because the LORD told him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why did you do this?’”

¹⁹ and said, “My lord, do not hold me guilty, and do not remember your servant’s wrongdoing on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. May the king not take it to heart.

¹⁰ Do not slander a servant to his master, or he will curse you, and you will bear the guilt.

²¹ those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice.

⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. ⁶ Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. ⁷ It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁴⁴ The king also said, “You know in your heart all the evil that you did to my father David. Therefore the LORD will bring your evil back upon your head.

¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.

³² Then the master summoned him and declared, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave all your debt because you begged me. ³³ Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?’ ³⁴ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should repay all that he owed. ³⁵ That is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother his trespasses from your heart.”

⁷ When they continued to question Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.” ⁸ And again He bent down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ When they heard this and were convicted by their conscience, they began to go away one by one, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there.

⁹ With the tongue we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.

⁵ “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

¹¹ So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this instead of requesting long life or wealth for yourself or death for your enemies—but you have asked for discernment to administer justice— ¹² behold, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has never been nor will ever be another like you.

¹ King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women. ² These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love. ³ He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines—and his wives turned his heart away. ⁴ For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been. ⁵ Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD; unlike his father David, he did not follow the LORD completely. ⁷ At that time on a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites. ⁸ He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,

²⁰ Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

¹¹ For this commandment I give you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. ¹² It is not in heaven, that you should need to ask, ‘Who will ascend into heaven to get it for us and proclaim it, that we may obey it?’ ¹³ And it is not beyond the sea, that you should need to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to get it for us and proclaim it, that we may obey it?’ ¹⁴ But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it.

⁷ Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty? ⁸ They are higher than the heavens—what can you do? They are deeper than Sheol—what can you know?

¹² But where can wisdom be found, and where does understanding dwell? ¹³ No man can know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living. ¹⁴ The ocean depths say, ‘It is not in me,’ while the sea declares, ‘It is not with me.’ ¹⁵ It cannot be bought with gold, nor can its price be weighed out in silver. ¹⁶ It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire. ¹⁷ Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it, nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it. ¹⁸ Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies. ¹⁹ Topaz from Cush cannot compare to it, nor can it be valued in pure gold. ²⁰ From where then does wisdom come, and where does understanding dwell? ²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing and concealed from the birds of the air. ²² Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor about it.’ ²³ But God understands its way, and He knows its place.

⁶ Your righteousness is like the highest mountains; Your judgments are like the deepest sea. O LORD, You preserve man and beast.

⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

⁸ “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. ⁹ “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

³³ O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!

¹⁶ He alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light. No one has ever seen Him, nor can anyone see Him. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

⁷ When Jacob’s sons heard what had happened, they returned from the field. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.

¹³ Get up and consecrate the people, saying, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Among you, O Israel, there are things devoted to destruction. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.

¹² “No, my brother!” she cried. “Do not humiliate me, for such a thing should never be done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing!

¹² It is better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly.

¹¹ As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

¹³ And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them! 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. ¹⁵ What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted. ¹⁶ I said to myself, “Behold, I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷ So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.

¹ I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!” But it proved to be futile. ² I said of laughter, “It is folly,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?” ³ I sought to cheer my body with wine and to embrace folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—until I could see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

¹² Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished?

¹⁵ So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile.

²⁰ So my heart began to despair over all the labor that I had done under the sun.

¹⁶ Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. ¹⁷ I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”

²⁷ “Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation.

¹ So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate. ² It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow. ³ This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.

¹³ The beginning of his talk is folly, and the end of his speech is evil madness.

³ In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction will not sleep. ⁴ For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; ⁵ if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight; ⁶ if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly; ⁷ and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless ⁸ (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹ if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.

³ Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. ⁴ “Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.” ⁵ But they deliberately overlook the fact that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water, ⁶ through which the world of that time perished in the flood. ⁷ And by His word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. ⁸ Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

¹⁸ When Delilah realized that he had revealed to her all that was in his heart, she sent this message to the lords of the Philistines: “Come up once more, for he has revealed to me all that is in his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came to her, bringing the money in their hands. ¹⁹ And having lulled him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his head. In this way she began to subdue him, and his strength left him. ²⁰ Then she called out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” When Samson awoke from his sleep, he thought, “I will escape as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. ²¹ Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze shackles and forced to grind grain in the prison.

¹⁶ It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words

¹⁸ For her house sinks down to death, and her tracks to the departed spirits. ¹⁹ None who go to her return or negotiate the paths of life.

³ Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil, ⁴ in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword. ⁵ Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol.

²¹ With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him. ²² He follows her on impulse, like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer bounding into a trap, ²³ until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare—not knowing it will cost him his life. ²⁴ Now, my sons, listen to me, and attend to the words of my mouth. ²⁵ Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths. ²⁶ For she has brought many down to death; her slain are many in number. ²⁷ Her house is the road to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death.

¹⁸ But they do not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

¹⁴ The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it.

²⁷ For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well. ²⁸ Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men.

²⁶ To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

¹ These are the words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem: ² “Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”

⁸ “Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile!” ⁹ Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also taught the people knowledge; he pondered, searched out, and arranged many proverbs. ¹⁰ The Teacher searched to find delightful sayings and to record accurate words of truth.

¹ King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women. ² These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love. ³ He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines—and his wives turned his heart away.

²³ Yet if there is a messenger on his side, one mediator in a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,

¹ For the choirmaster. According to Sheminith. A Psalm of David. Help, O LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men.

²³ All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me. ²⁴ What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it?

⁹ My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.” ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

⁶ When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves.

¹ This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in His own likeness.

⁵ Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time. ⁶ And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

⁴ “Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.” ⁵ Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building. ⁶ And the LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them.

⁸ O LORD our God, You answered them. You were a forgiving God to them, yet an avenger of their misdeeds.

²⁹ So they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.

³⁹ They defiled themselves by their actions and prostituted themselves by their deeds.

¹² Be stunned by this, O heavens; be shocked and utterly appalled,” declares the LORD. ¹³ “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

²² “For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”

⁶ See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood. ⁷ Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed. ⁸ You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths. ⁹ Among you are slanderous men bent on bloodshed; within you are those who eat on the mountain shrines and commit acts of indecency. ¹⁰ In you they have uncovered the nakedness of their fathers; in you they violate women during their menstrual impurity. ¹¹ One man commits an abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter. ¹² In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD. ¹³ Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst.

⁸ You have disregarded the commandment of God to keep the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other similar things you do.” ⁹ He went on to say, “You neatly set aside the command of God to maintain your own tradition.

⁴⁰ They said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us! As for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’ ⁴¹ At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands. ⁴² But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? ⁴³ You have taken along the tabernacle of Molech and the star of your god Remphan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.

² in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.

³ For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.