Podcasts about wisdom better than folly

Ecclesiastes 9A Common Destiny for All (v 1-12)Wisdom Better Than Folly (v 13-18)**********Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version ®, NIV ® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used with permission. All rights reserved worldwide.The “NIV”, “New International Version”, “Biblica”, “International Bible Society” and the Biblica Logo are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.  Used with permission.BIBLICA, THE INTERNATIONAL BIBLE SOCIETY, provides God's Word to people through Bible translation & Bible publishing, and Bible engagement in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America. Through its worldwide reach, Biblica engages people with God's Word so that their lives are transformed through a relationship with Jesus Christ.Support the showSupport the show

Morning: 2 Chronicles 20:12; Psalm 25:9; Psalm 123:1–2; Psalm 143:8; Proverbs 16:9; Ecclesiastes 9:11; Matthew 5:5; John 16:13; James 1:5 He… teaches the humble his way. “Blessed are the meek.” Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge.—The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God.—Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. “O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” 2 Chronicles 20:12 (Listen) 12 O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (ESV) Psalm 25:9 (Listen) 9   He leads the humble in what is right,    and teaches the humble his way. (ESV) Psalm 123:1–2 (Listen) Our Eyes Look to the Lord Our God A Song of Ascents. 123   To you I lift up my eyes,    O you who are enthroned in the heavens!2   Behold, as the eyes of servants    look to the hand of their master,  as the eyes of a maidservant    to the hand of her mistress,  so our eyes look to the LORD our God,    till he has mercy upon us. (ESV) Psalm 143:8 (Listen) 8   Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,    for in you I trust.  Make me know the way I should go,    for to you I lift up my soul. (ESV) Proverbs 16:9 (Listen) 9   The heart of man plans his way,    but the LORD establishes his steps. (ESV) Ecclesiastes 9:11 (Listen) Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. (ESV) Matthew 5:5 (Listen) 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (ESV) John 16:13 (Listen) 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. (ESV) James 1:5 (Listen) 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. (ESV) Evening: 2 Samuel 7:29; 1 Chronicles 17:27; Psalm 41:1; Psalm 84:11; Proverbs 10:22; Matthew 25:34–36; Luke 14:13–14; Acts 20:35 “O Lord God,… with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.” “You, O Lord, who… blessed, and it is blessed forever.”—The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it. “Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'”—“When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”—“Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him.—The Lord God is a sun and shield. 2 Samuel 7:29 (Listen) 29 Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.” (ESV) 1 Chronicles 17:27 (Listen) 27 Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you, for it is you, O LORD, who have blessed, and it is blessed forever.” (ESV) Psalm 41:1 (Listen) O Lord, Be Gracious to Me To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. 41   Blessed is the one who considers the poor!1    In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him; Footnotes [1] 41:1 Or weak (ESV) Psalm 84:11 (Listen) 11   For the LORD God is a sun and shield;    the LORD bestows favor and honor.  No good thing does he withhold    from those who walk uprightly. (ESV) Proverbs 10:22 (Listen) 22   The blessing of the LORD makes rich,    and he adds no sorrow with it.1 Footnotes [1] 10:22 Or and toil adds nothing to it (ESV) Matthew 25:34–36 (Listen) 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' (ESV) Luke 14:13–14 (Listen) 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (ESV) Acts 20:35 (Listen) 35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'” (ESV)

Old Testament: Ecclesiastes 7–9 Ecclesiastes 7–9 (Listen) The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly 7   A good name is better than precious ointment,    and the day of death than the day of birth.2   It is better to go to the house of mourning    than to go to the house of feasting,  for this is the end of all mankind,    and the living will lay it to heart.3   Sorrow is better than laughter,    for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.4   The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,    but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.5   It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise    than to hear the song of fools.6   For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,    so is the laughter of the fools;    this also is vanity.17   Surely oppression drives the wise into madness,    and a bribe corrupts the heart.8   Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,    and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.9   Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,    for anger lodges in the heart2 of fools.10   Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”    For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.11   Wisdom is good with an inheritance,    an advantage to those who see the sun.12   For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,    and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.13   Consider the work of God:    who can make straight what he has made crooked? 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. 15 In my vain3 life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them. 19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. 21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. 23 All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? 25 I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things—28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. Keep the King's Command 8   Who is like the wise?    And who knows the interpretation of a thing?  A man's wisdom makes his face shine,    and the hardness of his face is changed. 2 I say:4 Keep the king's command, because of God's oath to him.5 3 Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. 4 For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” 5 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.6 6 For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble7 lies heavy on him. 7 For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? 8 No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. 9 All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt. Those Who Fear God Will Do Well 10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised8 in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.9 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. Man Cannot Know God's Ways 14 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15 And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. 16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one's eyes see sleep, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out. Death Comes to All 9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,10 to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Enjoy Life with the One You Love 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain11 life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,12 for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. Footnotes [1] 7:6 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [2] 7:9 Hebrew in the bosom [3] 7:15 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [4] 8:2 Hebrew lacks say [5] 8:2 Or because of your oath to God [6] 8:5 Or and judgment [7] 8:6 Or evil [8] 8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts forgotten [9] 8:10 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also twice in verse 14 (see note on 1:2) [10] 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil [11] 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [12] 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 78:1–39 Psalm 78:1–39 (Listen) Tell the Coming Generation A Maskil1 of Asaph. 78   Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;    incline your ears to the words of my mouth!2   I will open my mouth in a parable;    I will utter dark sayings from of old,3   things that we have heard and known,    that our fathers have told us.4   We will not hide them from their children,    but tell to the coming generation  the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,    and the wonders that he has done. 5   He established a testimony in Jacob    and appointed a law in Israel,  which he commanded our fathers    to teach to their children,6   that the next generation might know them,    the children yet unborn,  and arise and tell them to their children,7     so that they should set their hope in God  and not forget the works of God,    but keep his commandments;8   and that they should not be like their fathers,    a stubborn and rebellious generation,  a generation whose heart was not steadfast,    whose spirit was not faithful to God. 9   The Ephraimites, armed with2 the bow,    turned back on the day of battle.10   They did not keep God's covenant,    but refused to walk according to his law.11   They forgot his works    and the wonders that he had shown them.12   In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders    in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.13   He divided the sea and let them pass through it,    and made the waters stand like a heap.14   In the daytime he led them with a cloud,    and all the night with a fiery light.15   He split rocks in the wilderness    and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.16   He made streams come out of the rock    and caused waters to flow down like rivers. 17   Yet they sinned still more against him,    rebelling against the Most High in the desert.18   They tested God in their heart    by demanding the food they craved.19   They spoke against God, saying,    “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?20   He struck the rock so that water gushed out    and streams overflowed.  Can he also give bread    or provide meat for his people?” 21   Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath;    a fire was kindled against Jacob;    his anger rose against Israel,22   because they did not believe in God    and did not trust his saving power.23   Yet he commanded the skies above    and opened the doors of heaven,24   and he rained down on them manna to eat    and gave them the grain of heaven.25   Man ate of the bread of the angels;    he sent them food in abundance.26   He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,    and by his power he led out the south wind;27   he rained meat on them like dust,    winged birds like the sand of the seas;28   he let them fall in the midst of their camp,    all around their dwellings.29   And they ate and were well filled,    for he gave them what they craved.30   But before they had satisfied their craving,    while the food was still in their mouths,31   the anger of God rose against them,    and he killed the strongest of them    and laid low the young men of Israel. 32   In spite of all this, they still sinned;    despite his wonders, they did not believe.33   So he made their days vanish like3 a breath,4    and their years in terror.34   When he killed them, they sought him;    they repented and sought God earnestly.35   They remembered that God was their rock,    the Most High God their redeemer.36   But they flattered him with their mouths;    they lied to him with their tongues.37   Their heart was not steadfast toward him;    they were not faithful to his covenant.38   Yet he, being compassionate,    atoned for their iniquity    and did not destroy them;  he restrained his anger often    and did not stir up all his wrath.39   He remembered that they were but flesh,    a wind that passes and comes not again. Footnotes [1] 78:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term [2] 78:9 Hebrew armed and shooting [3] 78:33 Hebrew in [4] 78:33 Or vapor (ESV) New Testament: John 20–21 John 20–21 (Listen) The Resurrection 20 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus'1 head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes. Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic,2 “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her. Jesus Appears to the Disciples 19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews,3 Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” Jesus and Thomas 24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin,4 was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I s

Old Testament: Ecclesiastes 7–9 Ecclesiastes 7–9 (Listen) The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly 7   A good name is better than precious ointment,    and the day of death than the day of birth.2   It is better to go to the house of mourning    than to go to the house of feasting,  for this is the end of all mankind,    and the living will lay it to heart.3   Sorrow is better than laughter,    for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.4   The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,    but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.5   It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise    than to hear the song of fools.6   For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,    so is the laughter of the fools;    this also is vanity.17   Surely oppression drives the wise into madness,    and a bribe corrupts the heart.8   Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,    and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.9   Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,    for anger lodges in the heart2 of fools.10   Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”    For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.11   Wisdom is good with an inheritance,    an advantage to those who see the sun.12   For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,    and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.13   Consider the work of God:    who can make straight what he has made crooked? 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. 15 In my vain3 life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them. 19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. 21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. 23 All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? 25 I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things—28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. Keep the King's Command 8   Who is like the wise?    And who knows the interpretation of a thing?  A man's wisdom makes his face shine,    and the hardness of his face is changed. 2 I say:4 Keep the king's command, because of God's oath to him.5 3 Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. 4 For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” 5 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.6 6 For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble7 lies heavy on him. 7 For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? 8 No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. 9 All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt. Those Who Fear God Will Do Well 10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised8 in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.9 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. Man Cannot Know God's Ways 14 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15 And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. 16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one's eyes see sleep, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out. Death Comes to All 9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,10 to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Enjoy Life with the One You Love 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain11 life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,12 for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. Footnotes [1] 7:6 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [2] 7:9 Hebrew in the bosom [3] 7:15 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [4] 8:2 Hebrew lacks say [5] 8:2 Or because of your oath to God [6] 8:5 Or and judgment [7] 8:6 Or evil [8] 8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts forgotten [9] 8:10 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also twice in verse 14 (see note on 1:2) [10] 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil [11] 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [12] 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it (ESV) New Testament: Philemon 8–22 Philemon 8–22 (Listen) Paul's Plea for Onesimus 8 Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, 9 yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus—10 I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus,1 whose father I became in my imprisonment. 11 (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. 15 For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 no longer as a bondservant2 but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 17 So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you. Footnotes [1] 1:10 Onesimus means useful (see verse 11) or beneficial (see verse 20) [2] 1:16 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface; twice in this verse (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 78:1–39 Psalm 78:1–39 (Listen) Tell the Coming Generation A Maskil1 of Asaph. 78   Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;    incline your ears to the words of my mouth!2   I will open my mouth in a parable;    I will utter dark sayings from of old,3   things that we have heard and known,    that our fathers have told us.4   We will not hide them from their children,    but tell to the coming generation  the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,    and the wonders that he has done. 5   He established a testimony in Jacob    and appointed a law in Israel,  which he commanded our fathers    to teach to their children,6   that the next generation might know them,    the children yet unborn,  and arise and tell them to their children,7     so that they should set their hope in God  and not forget the works of God,    but keep his commandments;8   and that they should not be like their fathers,    a stubborn and rebellious generation,  a generation whose heart was not steadfast,    whose spirit was not faithful to God. 9   The Ephraimites, armed with2 the bow,    turned back on the day of battle.10   They did not keep God's covenant,    but refused to walk according to his law.11   They forgot his works    and the wonders that he had shown them.12   In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders    in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.13   He divided the sea and let them pass through it,    and made the waters stand like a heap.14   In the daytime he led them with a cloud,    and all the night with a fiery light.15   He split rocks in the wilderness    and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.16   He made streams come out of the rock    and caused waters to flow down like rivers. 17   Yet they sinned still more against him,    rebelling against the Most High in the desert.18   They tested God in their heart    by demanding the food they craved.19   They spoke against God, saying,    “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?20   He struck the rock so that water gushed out    and streams overflowed.  Can he also give bread    or provide meat for his people?” 21   Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath;    a fire was kindled against Jacob;    his anger rose against Israel,22   because they did not believe in God    and did not trust his saving power.23   Yet he commanded the skies above    and opened the doors of heaven,24   and he rained down on them manna to eat    and gave them the grain of heaven.25   Man ate of the bread of the angels;    he sent them food in abundance.26   He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,    and by his power he led out the south wind;27   he rained meat on them like dust,    winged birds like the sand of the seas;28   he let them fall in the midst of their camp,    all around their dwellings.29   And they ate and were well filled,    for he gave them what they craved.30   But before they had satisfied their craving,    while the food was still in their mouths,31   the anger of God rose against them,    and he killed the strongest of them    and laid low the young men of Israel. 32   In spite of all this, they still sinned;    despite his wonders, they did not believe.33   So he made their days vanish like3 a breath,4    and their years in terror.34   When he killed them, they sought him;    they repented and sought God earnestly.35   They remembered that God was their rock,    the Most High God their redeemer.36   But they flattered him with their mouths;    they lied to him with their tongues.37   Their heart was not steadfast toward him;    they were not faithful to his covenant.38   Yet he, being compassionate,    atoned for their iniquity    and did not destroy them;  he restrained his anger often    and did not stir up all his wrath.39   He remembered that they were but flesh,    a wind that passes and comes not again. Footnotes [1] 78:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term [2] 78:9 Hebrew armed and shooting [3] 78:33 Hebrew in [4] 78:33 Or vapor (ESV) Proverb: Proverbs 24:8 Proverbs 24:8 (Listen) 8   Whoever plans to do evil    will be called a schemer. (ESV)

Morning: Ecclesiastes 7–9 Ecclesiastes 7–9 (Listen) The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly 7   A good name is better than precious ointment,    and the day of death than the day of birth.2   It is better to go to the house of mourning    than to go to the house of feasting,  for this is the end of all mankind,    and the living will lay it to heart.3   Sorrow is better than laughter,    for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.4   The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,    but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.5   It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise    than to hear the song of fools.6   For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,    so is the laughter of the fools;    this also is vanity.17   Surely oppression drives the wise into madness,    and a bribe corrupts the heart.8   Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,    and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.9   Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,    for anger lodges in the heart2 of fools.10   Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”    For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.11   Wisdom is good with an inheritance,    an advantage to those who see the sun.12   For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,    and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.13   Consider the work of God:    who can make straight what he has made crooked? 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. 15 In my vain3 life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them. 19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. 21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. 23 All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? 25 I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things—28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. Keep the King's Command 8   Who is like the wise?    And who knows the interpretation of a thing?  A man's wisdom makes his face shine,    and the hardness of his face is changed. 2 I say:4 Keep the king's command, because of God's oath to him.5 3 Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. 4 For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” 5 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.6 6 For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble7 lies heavy on him. 7 For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? 8 No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. 9 All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt. Those Who Fear God Will Do Well 10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised8 in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.9 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. Man Cannot Know God's Ways 14 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15 And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. 16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one's eyes see sleep, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out. Death Comes to All 9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,10 to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Enjoy Life with the One You Love 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain11 life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,12 for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. Footnotes [1] 7:6 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [2] 7:9 Hebrew in the bosom [3] 7:15 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [4] 8:2 Hebrew lacks say [5] 8:2 Or because of your oath to God [6] 8:5 Or and judgment [7] 8:6 Or evil [8] 8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts forgotten [9] 8:10 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also twice in verse 14 (see note on 1:2) [10] 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil [11] 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [12] 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it (ESV) Evening: 2 Corinthians 11:1–15 2 Corinthians 11:1–15 (Listen) Paul and the False Apostles 11 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. 5 Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. 6 Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. 7 Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God's gospel to you free of charge? 8 I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. 9 And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. 10 As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. 11 And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! 12 And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. (ESV)

Ecclesiastes 9–12 Ecclesiastes 9–12 (Listen) Death Comes to All 9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,1 to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Enjoy Life with the One You Love 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain2 life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,3 for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. 10   Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench;    so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.2   A wise man's heart inclines him to the right,    but a fool's heart to the left.3   Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense,    and he says to everyone that he is a fool.4   If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place,    for calmness4 will lay great offenses to rest. 5 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were an error proceeding from the ruler: 6 folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place. 7 I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on the ground like slaves. 8   He who digs a pit will fall into it,    and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall.9   He who quarries stones is hurt by them,    and he who splits logs is endangered by them.10   If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge,    he must use more strength,    but wisdom helps one to succeed.511   If the serpent bites before it is charmed,    there is no advantage to the charmer. 12   The words of a wise man's mouth win him favor,6    but the lips of a fool consume him.13   The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness,    and the end of his talk is evil madness.14   A fool multiplies words,    though no man knows what is to be,    and who can tell him what will be after him?15   The toil of a fool wearies him,    for he does not know the way to the city. 16   Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,    and your princes feast in the morning!17   Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility,    and your princes feast at the proper time,    for strength, and not for drunkenness!18   Through sloth the roof sinks in,    and through indolence the house leaks.19   Bread is made for laughter,    and wine gladdens life,    and money answers everything.20   Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king,    nor in your bedroom curse the rich,  for a bird of the air will carry your voice,    or some winged creature tell the matter. Cast Your Bread upon the Waters 11   Cast your bread upon the waters,    for you will find it after many days.2   Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,    for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.3   If the clouds are full of rain,    they empty themselves on the earth,  and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,    in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.4   He who observes the wind will not sow,    and he who regards the clouds will not reap. 5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb7 of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. 6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. 7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. 8 So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.8 9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. 10 Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain9 from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. Remember Your Creator in Your Youth 12 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3 in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, 4 and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low—5 they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,10 and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets—6 before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8 Vanity11 of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. Fear God and Keep His Commandments 9 Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. 11 The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. 12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.12 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with13 every secret thing, whether good or evil. Footnotes [1] 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil [2] 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [3] 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it [4] 10:4 Hebrew healing [5] 10:10 Or wisdom is an advantage for success [6] 10:12 Or are gracious [7] 11:5 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Targum; most Hebrew manuscripts As you do not know the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb [8] 11:8 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also verse 10 (see note on 1:2) [9] 11:10 Or evil [10] 12:5 Or is a burden [11] 12:8 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (three times in this verse); see note on 1:2 [12] 12:13 Or the duty of all mankind [13] 12:14 Or into the judgment on (ESV)

Psalms and Wisdom: Ecclesiastes 9:11–18 Ecclesiastes 9:11–18 (Listen) Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Joshua 16–17 Joshua 16–17 (Listen) The Allotment for Ephraim and Manasseh 16 The allotment of the people of Joseph went from the Jordan by Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, into the wilderness, going up from Jericho into the hill country to Bethel. 2 Then going from Bethel to Luz, it passes along to Ataroth, the territory of the Archites. 3 Then it goes down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of Lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, and it ends at the sea. 4 The people of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance. 5 The territory of the people of Ephraim by their clans was as follows: the boundary of their inheritance on the east was Ataroth-addar as far as Upper Beth-horon, 6 and the boundary goes from there to the sea. On the north is Michmethath. Then on the east the boundary turns around toward Taanath-shiloh and passes along beyond it on the east to Janoah, 7 then it goes down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah, and touches Jericho, ending at the Jordan. 8 From Tappuah the boundary goes westward to the brook Kanah and ends at the sea. Such is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Ephraim by their clans, 9 together with the towns that were set apart for the people of Ephraim within the inheritance of the Manassites, all those towns with their villages. 10 However, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day but have been made to do forced labor. 17 Then allotment was made to the people of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. To Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a man of war. 2 And allotments were made to the rest of the people of Manasseh by their clans, Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These were the male descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph, by their clans. 3 Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters, and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 They approached Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the leaders and said, “The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance along with our brothers.” So according to the mouth of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father. 5 Thus there fell to Manasseh ten portions, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is on the other side of the Jordan, 6 because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance along with his sons. The land of Gilead was allotted to the rest of the people of Manasseh. 7 The territory of Manasseh reached from Asher to Michmethath, which is east of Shechem. Then the boundary goes along southward to the inhabitants of En-tappuah. 8 The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah on the boundary of Manasseh belonged to the people of Ephraim. 9 Then the boundary went down to the brook Kanah. These cities, to the south of the brook, among the cities of Manasseh, belong to Ephraim. Then the boundary of Manasseh goes on the north side of the brook and ends at the sea, 10 the land to the south being Ephraim's and that to the north being Manasseh's, with the sea forming its boundary. On the north Asher is reached, and on the east Issachar. 11 Also in Issachar and in Asher Manasseh had Beth-shean and its villages, and Ibleam and its villages, and the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its villages, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; the third is Naphath.1 12 Yet the people of Manasseh could not take possession of those cities, but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. 13 Now when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out. 14 Then the people of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me but one lot and one portion as an inheritance, although I am a numerous people, since all along the LORD has blessed me?” 15 And Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up by yourselves to the forest, and there clear ground for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.” 16 The people of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us. Yet all the Canaanites who dwell in the plain have chariots of iron, both those in Beth-shean and its villages and those in the Valley of Jezreel.” 17 Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power. You shall not have one allotment only, 18 but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.” Footnotes [1] 17:11 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Jeremiah 9:23–10:25 Jeremiah 9:23–10:25 (Listen) 23 Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.” 25 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh—26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.” Idols and the Living God 10 Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says the LORD:   “Learn not the way of the nations,    nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens    because the nations are dismayed at them,3   for the customs of the peoples are vanity.1  A tree from the forest is cut down    and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.4   They decorate it with silver and gold;    they fasten it with hammer and nails    so that it cannot move.5   Their idols2 are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,    and they cannot speak;  they have to be carried,    for they cannot walk.  Do not be afraid of them,    for they cannot do evil,    neither is it in them to do good.” 6   There is none like you, O LORD;    you are great, and your name is great in might.7   Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?    For this is your due;  for among all the wise ones of the nations    and in all their kingdoms    there is none like you.8   They are both stupid and foolish;    the instruction of idols is but wood!9   Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,    and gold from Uphaz.  They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;    their clothing is violet and purple;    they are all the work of skilled men.10   But the LORD is the true God;    he is the living God and the everlasting King.  At his wrath the earth quakes,    and the nations cannot endure his indignation. 11 Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”3 12   It is he who made the earth by his power,    who established the world by his wisdom,    and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.13   When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,    and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.  He makes lightning for the rain,    and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.14   Every man is stupid and without knowledge;    every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,  for his images are false,    and there is no breath in them.15   They are worthless, a work of delusion;    at the time of their punishment they shall perish.16   Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,    for he is the one who formed all things,  and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;    the LORD of hosts is his name. 17   Gather up your bundle from the ground,    O you who dwell under siege!18   For thus says the LORD:  “Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land    at this time,  and I will bring distress on them,    that they may feel it.” 19   Woe is me because of my hurt!    My wound is grievous.  But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,    and I must bear it.”20   My tent is destroyed,    and all my cords are broken;  my children have gone from me,    and they are not;  there is no one to spread my tent again    and to set up my curtains.21   For the shepherds are stupid    and do not inquire of the LORD;  therefore they have not prospered,    and all their flock is scattered. 22   A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—    a great commotion out of the north country  to make the cities of Judah a desolation,    a lair of jackals. 23   I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself,    that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.24   Correct me, O LORD, but in justice;    not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing. 25   Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not,    and on the peoples that call not on your name,  for they have devoured Jacob;    they have devoured him and consumed him,    and have laid waste his habitation. Footnotes [1] 10:3 Or vapor, or mist [2] 10:5 Hebrew They [3] 10:11 This verse is in Aramaic (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Matthew 24 Matthew 24 (Listen) Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple 24 Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” Signs of the End of the Age 3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then many will fall away1 and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. The Abomination of Desolation 15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!' or ‘There he is!' do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. The Coming of the Son of Man 29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. The Lesson of the Fig Tree 32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. No One Knows That Day and Hour 36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son,2 but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant,3 whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,' 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants4 and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Footnotes [1] 24:10 Or stumble [2] 24:36 Some manuscripts omit nor the Son [3] 24:45 Or bondservant; also verses 46, 48, 50 [4] 24:49 Or bondservants (ESV)

Ecclesiastes 9–12 Ecclesiastes 9–12 (Listen) Death Comes to All 9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,1 to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Enjoy Life with the One You Love 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain2 life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,3 for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. 10   Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench;    so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.2   A wise man's heart inclines him to the right,    but a fool's heart to the left.3   Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense,    and he says to everyone that he is a fool.4   If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place,    for calmness4 will lay great offenses to rest. 5 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were an error proceeding from the ruler: 6 folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place. 7 I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on the ground like slaves. 8   He who digs a pit will fall into it,    and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall.9   He who quarries stones is hurt by them,    and he who splits logs is endangered by them.10   If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge,    he must use more strength,    but wisdom helps one to succeed.511   If the serpent bites before it is charmed,    there is no advantage to the charmer. 12   The words of a wise man's mouth win him favor,6    but the lips of a fool consume him.13   The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness,    and the end of his talk is evil madness.14   A fool multiplies words,    though no man knows what is to be,    and who can tell him what will be after him?15   The toil of a fool wearies him,    for he does not know the way to the city. 16   Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,    and your princes feast in the morning!17   Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility,    and your princes feast at the proper time,    for strength, and not for drunkenness!18   Through sloth the roof sinks in,    and through indolence the house leaks.19   Bread is made for laughter,    and wine gladdens life,    and money answers everything.20   Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king,    nor in your bedroom curse the rich,  for a bird of the air will carry your voice,    or some winged creature tell the matter. Cast Your Bread upon the Waters 11   Cast your bread upon the waters,    for you will find it after many days.2   Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,    for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.3   If the clouds are full of rain,    they empty themselves on the earth,  and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,    in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.4   He who observes the wind will not sow,    and he who regards the clouds will not reap. 5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb7 of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. 6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. 7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. 8 So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.8 9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. 10 Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain9 from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. Remember Your Creator in Your Youth 12 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3 in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, 4 and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low—5 they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,10 and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets—6 before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8 Vanity11 of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. Fear God and Keep His Commandments 9 Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. 11 The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. 12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.12 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with13 every secret thing, whether good or evil. Footnotes [1] 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil [2] 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [3] 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it [4] 10:4 Hebrew healing [5] 10:10 Or wisdom is an advantage for success [6] 10:12 Or are gracious [7] 11:5 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Targum; most Hebrew manuscripts As you do not know the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb [8] 11:8 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also verse 10 (see note on 1:2) [9] 11:10 Or evil [10] 12:5 Or is a burden [11] 12:8 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (three times in this verse); see note on 1:2 [12] 12:13 Or the duty of all mankind [13] 12:14 Or into the judgment on (ESV)

With family: Leviticus 26; Psalm 33 Leviticus 26 (Listen) Blessings for Obedience 26 “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God. 2 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD. 3 “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, 4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 5 Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely. 6 I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land. 7 You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 8 Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. 9 I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with you. 10 You shall eat old store long kept, and you shall clear out the old to make way for the new. 11 I will make my dwelling1 among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect. Punishment for Disobedience 14 “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you. 18 And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins, 19 and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. 20 And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit. 21 “Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins. 22 And I will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number, so that your roads shall be deserted. 23 “And if by this discipline you are not turned to me but walk contrary to me, 24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins. 25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 26 When I break your supply2 of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied. 27 “But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, 28 then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins. 29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 And I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you. 31 And I will lay your cities waste and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing aromas. 32 And I myself will devastate the land, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be appalled at it. 33 And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste. 34 “Then the land shall enjoy3 its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were dwelling in it. 36 And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues. 37 They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues. And you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. 38 And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 39 And those of you who are left shall rot away in your enemies' lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them. 40 “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, 41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. 43 But the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes. 44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am the LORD their God. 45 But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.” 46 These are the statutes and rules and laws that the LORD made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai. Footnotes [1] 26:11 Hebrew tabernacle [2] 26:26 Hebrew staff [3] 26:34 Or pay for; twice in this verse; also verse 43 (ESV) Psalm 33 (Listen) The Steadfast Love of the Lord 33   Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!    Praise befits the upright.2   Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre;    make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!3   Sing to him a new song;    play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. 4   For the word of the LORD is upright,    and all his work is done in faithfulness.5   He loves righteousness and justice;    the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD. 6   By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,    and by the breath of his mouth all their host.7   He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;    he puts the deeps in storehouses. 8   Let all the earth fear the LORD;    let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!9   For he spoke, and it came to be;    he commanded, and it stood firm. 10   The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;    he frustrates the plans of the peoples.11   The counsel of the LORD stands forever,    the plans of his heart to all generations.12   Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,    the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! 13   The LORD looks down from heaven;    he sees all the children of man;14   from where he sits enthroned he looks out    on all the inhabitants of the earth,15   he who fashions the hearts of them all    and observes all their deeds.16   The king is not saved by his great army;    a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.17   The war horse is a false hope for salvation,    and by its great might it cannot rescue. 18   Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,    on those who hope in his steadfast love,19   that he may deliver their soul from death    and keep them alive in famine. 20   Our soul waits for the LORD;    he is our help and our shield.21   For our heart is glad in him,    because we trust in his holy name.22   Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,    even as we hope in you. (ESV) In private: Ecclesiastes 9; Titus 1 Ecclesiastes 9 (Listen) Death Comes to All 9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,1 to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Enjoy Life with the One You Love 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain2 life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,3 for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. Footnotes [1] 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil [2] 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [3] 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it (ESV) Titus 1 (Listen) Greeting 1 Paul, a servant1 of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began2 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word3 through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior; 4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. Qualifications for Elders 5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,4 and his children are believers5 and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer,6 as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound7 doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. 10 For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.8 11 They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 One of the Cretans,9 a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”10 13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. Footnotes [1] 1:1 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface [2] 1:2 Greek before times eternal [3] 1:3 Or manifested his word [4] 1:6 Or a man of one woman [5] 1:6 Or are faithful [6] 1:7 Or bishop; Greek episkopos [7] 1:9 Or healthy; also verse 13 [8] 1:10 Or especially those of the circumcision [9] 1:12 Greek One of them [10] 1:12 Probably from Epimenides of Crete (ESV)

Morning: 2 Chronicles 20:12; Psalm 25:9; Psalm 123:1–2; Psalm 143:8; Proverbs 16:9; Ecclesiastes 9:11; Matthew 5:5; John 16:13; James 1:5 He… teaches the humble his way. “Blessed are the meek.” Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge.—The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God.—Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. “O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” 2 Chronicles 20:12 (Listen) 12 O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (ESV) Psalm 25:9 (Listen) 9   He leads the humble in what is right,    and teaches the humble his way. (ESV) Psalm 123:1–2 (Listen) Our Eyes Look to the Lord Our God A Song of Ascents. 123   To you I lift up my eyes,    O you who are enthroned in the heavens!2   Behold, as the eyes of servants    look to the hand of their master,  as the eyes of a maidservant    to the hand of her mistress,  so our eyes look to the LORD our God,    till he has mercy upon us. (ESV) Psalm 143:8 (Listen) 8   Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,    for in you I trust.  Make me know the way I should go,    for to you I lift up my soul. (ESV) Proverbs 16:9 (Listen) 9   The heart of man plans his way,    but the LORD establishes his steps. (ESV) Ecclesiastes 9:11 (Listen) Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. (ESV) Matthew 5:5 (Listen) 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (ESV) John 16:13 (Listen) 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. (ESV) James 1:5 (Listen) 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. (ESV) Evening: 2 Samuel 7:29; 1 Chronicles 17:27; Psalm 41:1; Psalm 84:11; Proverbs 10:22; Matthew 25:34–36; Luke 14:13–14; Acts 20:35 “O Lord God,… with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.” “You, O Lord, who… blessed, and it is blessed forever.”—The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it. “Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'”—“When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”—“Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him.—The Lord God is a sun and shield. 2 Samuel 7:29 (Listen) 29 Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.” (ESV) 1 Chronicles 17:27 (Listen) 27 Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you, for it is you, O LORD, who have blessed, and it is blessed forever.” (ESV) Psalm 41:1 (Listen) O Lord, Be Gracious to Me To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. 41   Blessed is the one who considers the poor!1    In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him; Footnotes [1] 41:1 Or weak (ESV) Psalm 84:11 (Listen) 11   For the LORD God is a sun and shield;    the LORD bestows favor and honor.  No good thing does he withhold    from those who walk uprightly. (ESV) Proverbs 10:22 (Listen) 22   The blessing of the LORD makes rich,    and he adds no sorrow with it.1 Footnotes [1] 10:22 Or and toil adds nothing to it (ESV) Matthew 25:34–36 (Listen) 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' (ESV) Luke 14:13–14 (Listen) 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (ESV) Acts 20:35 (Listen) 35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'” (ESV)

Old Testament: Ecclesiastes 7–9 Ecclesiastes 7–9 (Listen) The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly 7   A good name is better than precious ointment,    and the day of death than the day of birth.2   It is better to go to the house of mourning    than to go to the house of feasting,  for this is the end of all mankind,    and the living will lay it to heart.3   Sorrow is better than laughter,    for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.4   The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,    but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.5   It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise    than to hear the song of fools.6   For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,    so is the laughter of the fools;    this also is vanity.17   Surely oppression drives the wise into madness,    and a bribe corrupts the heart.8   Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,    and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.9   Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,    for anger lodges in the heart2 of fools.10   Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”    For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.11   Wisdom is good with an inheritance,    an advantage to those who see the sun.12   For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,    and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.13   Consider the work of God:    who can make straight what he has made crooked? 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. 15 In my vain3 life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them. 19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. 21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. 23 All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? 25 I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things—28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. Keep the King's Command 8   Who is like the wise?    And who knows the interpretation of a thing?  A man's wisdom makes his face shine,    and the hardness of his face is changed. 2 I say:4 Keep the king's command, because of God's oath to him.5 3 Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. 4 For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” 5 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.6 6 For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble7 lies heavy on him. 7 For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? 8 No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. 9 All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt. Those Who Fear God Will Do Well 10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised8 in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.9 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. Man Cannot Know God's Ways 14 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15 And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. 16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one's eyes see sleep, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out. Death Comes to All 9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,10 to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Enjoy Life with the One You Love 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain11 life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,12 for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. Footnotes [1] 7:6 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [2] 7:9 Hebrew in the bosom [3] 7:15 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [4] 8:2 Hebrew lacks say [5] 8:2 Or because of your oath to God [6] 8:5 Or and judgment [7] 8:6 Or evil [8] 8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts forgotten [9] 8:10 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also twice in verse 14 (see note on 1:2) [10] 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil [11] 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [12] 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 78:1–39 Psalm 78:1–39 (Listen) Tell the Coming Generation A Maskil1 of Asaph. 78   Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;    incline your ears to the words of my mouth!2   I will open my mouth in a parable;    I will utter dark sayings from of old,3   things that we have heard and known,    that our fathers have told us.4   We will not hide them from their children,    but tell to the coming generation  the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,    and the wonders that he has done. 5   He established a testimony in Jacob    and appointed a law in Israel,  which he commanded our fathers    to teach to their children,6   that the next generation might know them,    the children yet unborn,  and arise and tell them to their children,7     so that they should set their hope in God  and not forget the works of God,    but keep his commandments;8   and that they should not be like their fathers,    a stubborn and rebellious generation,  a generation whose heart was not steadfast,    whose spirit was not faithful to God. 9   The Ephraimites, armed with2 the bow,    turned back on the day of battle.10   They did not keep God's covenant,    but refused to walk according to his law.11   They forgot his works    and the wonders that he had shown them.12   In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders    in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.13   He divided the sea and let them pass through it,    and made the waters stand like a heap.14   In the daytime he led them with a cloud,    and all the night with a fiery light.15   He split rocks in the wilderness    and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.16   He made streams come out of the rock    and caused waters to flow down like rivers. 17   Yet they sinned still more against him,    rebelling against the Most High in the desert.18   They tested God in their heart    by demanding the food they craved.19   They spoke against God, saying,    “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?20   He struck the rock so that water gushed out    and streams overflowed.  Can he also give bread    or provide meat for his people?” 21   Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath;    a fire was kindled against Jacob;    his anger rose against Israel,22   because they did not believe in God    and did not trust his saving power.23   Yet he commanded the skies above    and opened the doors of heaven,24   and he rained down on them manna to eat    and gave them the grain of heaven.25   Man ate of the bread of the angels;    he sent them food in abundance.26   He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,    and by his power he led out the south wind;27   he rained meat on them like dust,    winged birds like the sand of the seas;28   he let them fall in the midst of their camp,    all around their dwellings.29   And they ate and were well filled,    for he gave them what they craved.30   But before they had satisfied their craving,    while the food was still in their mouths,31   the anger of God rose against them,    and he killed the strongest of them    and laid low the young men of Israel. 32   In spite of all this, they still sinned;    despite his wonders, they did not believe.33   So he made their days vanish like3 a breath,4    and their years in terror.34   When he killed them, they sought him;    they repented and sought God earnestly.35   They remembered that God was their rock,    the Most High God their redeemer.36   But they flattered him with their mouths;    they lied to him with their tongues.37   Their heart was not steadfast toward him;    they were not faithful to his covenant.38   Yet he, being compassionate,    atoned for their iniquity    and did not destroy them;  he restrained his anger often    and did not stir up all his wrath.39   He remembered that they were but flesh,    a wind that passes and comes not again. Footnotes [1] 78:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term [2] 78:9 Hebrew armed and shooting [3] 78:33 Hebrew in [4] 78:33 Or vapor (ESV) New Testament: John 20–21 John 20–21 (Listen) The Resurrection 20 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus'1 head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes. Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic,2 “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her. Jesus Appears to the Disciples 19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews,3 Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” Jesus and Thomas 24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin,4 was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I s

Old Testament: Ecclesiastes 7–9 Ecclesiastes 7–9 (Listen) The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly 7   A good name is better than precious ointment,    and the day of death than the day of birth.2   It is better to go to the house of mourning    than to go to the house of feasting,  for this is the end of all mankind,    and the living will lay it to heart.3   Sorrow is better than laughter,    for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.4   The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,    but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.5   It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise    than to hear the song of fools.6   For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,    so is the laughter of the fools;    this also is vanity.17   Surely oppression drives the wise into madness,    and a bribe corrupts the heart.8   Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,    and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.9   Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,    for anger lodges in the heart2 of fools.10   Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”    For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.11   Wisdom is good with an inheritance,    an advantage to those who see the sun.12   For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,    and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.13   Consider the work of God:    who can make straight what he has made crooked? 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. 15 In my vain3 life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them. 19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. 21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. 23 All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? 25 I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things—28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. Keep the King's Command 8   Who is like the wise?    And who knows the interpretation of a thing?  A man's wisdom makes his face shine,    and the hardness of his face is changed. 2 I say:4 Keep the king's command, because of God's oath to him.5 3 Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. 4 For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” 5 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.6 6 For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble7 lies heavy on him. 7 For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? 8 No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. 9 All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt. Those Who Fear God Will Do Well 10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised8 in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.9 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. Man Cannot Know God's Ways 14 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15 And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. 16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one's eyes see sleep, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out. Death Comes to All 9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,10 to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Enjoy Life with the One You Love 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain11 life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,12 for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. Footnotes [1] 7:6 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [2] 7:9 Hebrew in the bosom [3] 7:15 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [4] 8:2 Hebrew lacks say [5] 8:2 Or because of your oath to God [6] 8:5 Or and judgment [7] 8:6 Or evil [8] 8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts forgotten [9] 8:10 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also twice in verse 14 (see note on 1:2) [10] 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil [11] 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [12] 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it (ESV) New Testament: Philemon 8–22 Philemon 8–22 (Listen) Paul's Plea for Onesimus 8 Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, 9 yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus—10 I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus,1 whose father I became in my imprisonment. 11 (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. 15 For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 no longer as a bondservant2 but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 17 So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you. Footnotes [1] 1:10 Onesimus means useful (see verse 11) or beneficial (see verse 20) [2] 1:16 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface; twice in this verse (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 78:1–39 Psalm 78:1–39 (Listen) Tell the Coming Generation A Maskil1 of Asaph. 78   Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;    incline your ears to the words of my mouth!2   I will open my mouth in a parable;    I will utter dark sayings from of old,3   things that we have heard and known,    that our fathers have told us.4   We will not hide them from their children,    but tell to the coming generation  the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,    and the wonders that he has done. 5   He established a testimony in Jacob    and appointed a law in Israel,  which he commanded our fathers    to teach to their children,6   that the next generation might know them,    the children yet unborn,  and arise and tell them to their children,7     so that they should set their hope in God  and not forget the works of God,    but keep his commandments;8   and that they should not be like their fathers,    a stubborn and rebellious generation,  a generation whose heart was not steadfast,    whose spirit was not faithful to God. 9   The Ephraimites, armed with2 the bow,    turned back on the day of battle.10   They did not keep God's covenant,    but refused to walk according to his law.11   They forgot his works    and the wonders that he had shown them.12   In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders    in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.13   He divided the sea and let them pass through it,    and made the waters stand like a heap.14   In the daytime he led them with a cloud,    and all the night with a fiery light.15   He split rocks in the wilderness    and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.16   He made streams come out of the rock    and caused waters to flow down like rivers. 17   Yet they sinned still more against him,    rebelling against the Most High in the desert.18   They tested God in their heart    by demanding the food they craved.19   They spoke against God, saying,    “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?20   He struck the rock so that water gushed out    and streams overflowed.  Can he also give bread    or provide meat for his people?” 21   Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath;    a fire was kindled against Jacob;    his anger rose against Israel,22   because they did not believe in God    and did not trust his saving power.23   Yet he commanded the skies above    and opened the doors of heaven,24   and he rained down on them manna to eat    and gave them the grain of heaven.25   Man ate of the bread of the angels;    he sent them food in abundance.26   He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,    and by his power he led out the south wind;27   he rained meat on them like dust,    winged birds like the sand of the seas;28   he let them fall in the midst of their camp,    all around their dwellings.29   And they ate and were well filled,    for he gave them what they craved.30   But before they had satisfied their craving,    while the food was still in their mouths,31   the anger of God rose against them,    and he killed the strongest of them    and laid low the young men of Israel. 32   In spite of all this, they still sinned;    despite his wonders, they did not believe.33   So he made their days vanish like3 a breath,4    and their years in terror.34   When he killed them, they sought him;    they repented and sought God earnestly.35   They remembered that God was their rock,    the Most High God their redeemer.36   But they flattered him with their mouths;    they lied to him with their tongues.37   Their heart was not steadfast toward him;    they were not faithful to his covenant.38   Yet he, being compassionate,    atoned for their iniquity    and did not destroy them;  he restrained his anger often    and did not stir up all his wrath.39   He remembered that they were but flesh,    a wind that passes and comes not again. Footnotes [1] 78:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term [2] 78:9 Hebrew armed and shooting [3] 78:33 Hebrew in [4] 78:33 Or vapor (ESV) Proverb: Proverbs 24:8 Proverbs 24:8 (Listen) 8   Whoever plans to do evil    will be called a schemer. (ESV)

Morning: Ecclesiastes 7–9 Ecclesiastes 7–9 (Listen) The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly 7   A good name is better than precious ointment,    and the day of death than the day of birth.2   It is better to go to the house of mourning    than to go to the house of feasting,  for this is the end of all mankind,    and the living will lay it to heart.3   Sorrow is better than laughter,    for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.4   The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,    but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.5   It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise    than to hear the song of fools.6   For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,    so is the laughter of the fools;    this also is vanity.17   Surely oppression drives the wise into madness,    and a bribe corrupts the heart.8   Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,    and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.9   Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,    for anger lodges in the heart2 of fools.10   Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”    For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.11   Wisdom is good with an inheritance,    an advantage to those who see the sun.12   For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,    and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.13   Consider the work of God:    who can make straight what he has made crooked? 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. 15 In my vain3 life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them. 19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. 21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. 23 All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? 25 I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things—28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. Keep the King's Command 8   Who is like the wise?    And who knows the interpretation of a thing?  A man's wisdom makes his face shine,    and the hardness of his face is changed. 2 I say:4 Keep the king's command, because of God's oath to him.5 3 Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. 4 For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” 5 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.6 6 For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble7 lies heavy on him. 7 For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? 8 No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. 9 All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt. Those Who Fear God Will Do Well 10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised8 in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.9 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. Man Cannot Know God's Ways 14 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15 And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. 16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one's eyes see sleep, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out. Death Comes to All 9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,10 to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Enjoy Life with the One You Love 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain11 life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,12 for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. Footnotes [1] 7:6 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [2] 7:9 Hebrew in the bosom [3] 7:15 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [4] 8:2 Hebrew lacks say [5] 8:2 Or because of your oath to God [6] 8:5 Or and judgment [7] 8:6 Or evil [8] 8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts forgotten [9] 8:10 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also twice in verse 14 (see note on 1:2) [10] 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil [11] 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [12] 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it (ESV) Evening: 2 Corinthians 11:1–15 2 Corinthians 11:1–15 (Listen) Paul and the False Apostles 11 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. 5 Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. 6 Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. 7 Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God's gospel to you free of charge? 8 I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. 9 And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. 10 As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. 11 And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! 12 And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. (ESV)

Ecclesiastes 9–12 Ecclesiastes 9–12 (Listen) Death Comes to All 9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,1 to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Enjoy Life with the One You Love 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain2 life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,3 for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. 10   Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench;    so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.2   A wise man's heart inclines him to the right,    but a fool's heart to the left.3   Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense,    and he says to everyone that he is a fool.4   If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place,    for calmness4 will lay great offenses to rest. 5 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were an error proceeding from the ruler: 6 folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place. 7 I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on the ground like slaves. 8   He who digs a pit will fall into it,    and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall.9   He who quarries stones is hurt by them,    and he who splits logs is endangered by them.10   If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge,    he must use more strength,    but wisdom helps one to succeed.511   If the serpent bites before it is charmed,    there is no advantage to the charmer. 12   The words of a wise man's mouth win him favor,6    but the lips of a fool consume him.13   The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness,    and the end of his talk is evil madness.14   A fool multiplies words,    though no man knows what is to be,    and who can tell him what will be after him?15   The toil of a fool wearies him,    for he does not know the way to the city. 16   Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,    and your princes feast in the morning!17   Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility,    and your princes feast at the proper time,    for strength, and not for drunkenness!18   Through sloth the roof sinks in,    and through indolence the house leaks.19   Bread is made for laughter,    and wine gladdens life,    and money answers everything.20   Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king,    nor in your bedroom curse the rich,  for a bird of the air will carry your voice,    or some winged creature tell the matter. Cast Your Bread upon the Waters 11   Cast your bread upon the waters,    for you will find it after many days.2   Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,    for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.3   If the clouds are full of rain,    they empty themselves on the earth,  and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,    in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.4   He who observes the wind will not sow,    and he who regards the clouds will not reap. 5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb7 of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. 6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. 7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. 8 So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.8 9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. 10 Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain9 from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. Remember Your Creator in Your Youth 12 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3 in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, 4 and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low—5 they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,10 and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets—6 before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8 Vanity11 of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. Fear God and Keep His Commandments 9 Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. 11 The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. 12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.12 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with13 every secret thing, whether good or evil. Footnotes [1] 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil [2] 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [3] 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it [4] 10:4 Hebrew healing [5] 10:10 Or wisdom is an advantage for success [6] 10:12 Or are gracious [7] 11:5 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Targum; most Hebrew manuscripts As you do not know the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb [8] 11:8 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also verse 10 (see note on 1:2) [9] 11:10 Or evil [10] 12:5 Or is a burden [11] 12:8 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (three times in this verse); see note on 1:2 [12] 12:13 Or the duty of all mankind [13] 12:14 Or into the judgment on (ESV)

Psalms and Wisdom: Ecclesiastes 9:11–18 Ecclesiastes 9:11–18 (Listen) Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Joshua 16–17 Joshua 16–17 (Listen) The Allotment for Ephraim and Manasseh 16 The allotment of the people of Joseph went from the Jordan by Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, into the wilderness, going up from Jericho into the hill country to Bethel. 2 Then going from Bethel to Luz, it passes along to Ataroth, the territory of the Archites. 3 Then it goes down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of Lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, and it ends at the sea. 4 The people of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance. 5 The territory of the people of Ephraim by their clans was as follows: the boundary of their inheritance on the east was Ataroth-addar as far as Upper Beth-horon, 6 and the boundary goes from there to the sea. On the north is Michmethath. Then on the east the boundary turns around toward Taanath-shiloh and passes along beyond it on the east to Janoah, 7 then it goes down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah, and touches Jericho, ending at the Jordan. 8 From Tappuah the boundary goes westward to the brook Kanah and ends at the sea. Such is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Ephraim by their clans, 9 together with the towns that were set apart for the people of Ephraim within the inheritance of the Manassites, all those towns with their villages. 10 However, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day but have been made to do forced labor. 17 Then allotment was made to the people of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. To Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a man of war. 2 And allotments were made to the rest of the people of Manasseh by their clans, Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These were the male descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph, by their clans. 3 Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters, and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 They approached Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the leaders and said, “The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance along with our brothers.” So according to the mouth of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father. 5 Thus there fell to Manasseh ten portions, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is on the other side of the Jordan, 6 because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance along with his sons. The land of Gilead was allotted to the rest of the people of Manasseh. 7 The territory of Manasseh reached from Asher to Michmethath, which is east of Shechem. Then the boundary goes along southward to the inhabitants of En-tappuah. 8 The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah on the boundary of Manasseh belonged to the people of Ephraim. 9 Then the boundary went down to the brook Kanah. These cities, to the south of the brook, among the cities of Manasseh, belong to Ephraim. Then the boundary of Manasseh goes on the north side of the brook and ends at the sea, 10 the land to the south being Ephraim's and that to the north being Manasseh's, with the sea forming its boundary. On the north Asher is reached, and on the east Issachar. 11 Also in Issachar and in Asher Manasseh had Beth-shean and its villages, and Ibleam and its villages, and the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its villages, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; the third is Naphath.1 12 Yet the people of Manasseh could not take possession of those cities, but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. 13 Now when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out. 14 Then the people of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me but one lot and one portion as an inheritance, although I am a numerous people, since all along the LORD has blessed me?” 15 And Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up by yourselves to the forest, and there clear ground for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.” 16 The people of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us. Yet all the Canaanites who dwell in the plain have chariots of iron, both those in Beth-shean and its villages and those in the Valley of Jezreel.” 17 Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power. You shall not have one allotment only, 18 but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.” Footnotes [1] 17:11 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Jeremiah 9:23–10:25 Jeremiah 9:23–10:25 (Listen) 23 Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.” 25 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh—26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.” Idols and the Living God 10 Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says the LORD:   “Learn not the way of the nations,    nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens    because the nations are dismayed at them,3   for the customs of the peoples are vanity.1  A tree from the forest is cut down    and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.4   They decorate it with silver and gold;    they fasten it with hammer and nails    so that it cannot move.5   Their idols2 are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,    and they cannot speak;  they have to be carried,    for they cannot walk.  Do not be afraid of them,    for they cannot do evil,    neither is it in them to do good.” 6   There is none like you, O LORD;    you are great, and your name is great in might.7   Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?    For this is your due;  for among all the wise ones of the nations    and in all their kingdoms    there is none like you.8   They are both stupid and foolish;    the instruction of idols is but wood!9   Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,    and gold from Uphaz.  They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;    their clothing is violet and purple;    they are all the work of skilled men.10   But the LORD is the true God;    he is the living God and the everlasting King.  At his wrath the earth quakes,    and the nations cannot endure his indignation. 11 Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”3 12   It is he who made the earth by his power,    who established the world by his wisdom,    and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.13   When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,    and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.  He makes lightning for the rain,    and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.14   Every man is stupid and without knowledge;    every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,  for his images are false,    and there is no breath in them.15   They are worthless, a work of delusion;    at the time of their punishment they shall perish.16   Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,    for he is the one who formed all things,  and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;    the LORD of hosts is his name. 17   Gather up your bundle from the ground,    O you who dwell under siege!18   For thus says the LORD:  “Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land    at this time,  and I will bring distress on them,    that they may feel it.” 19   Woe is me because of my hurt!    My wound is grievous.  But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,    and I must bear it.”20   My tent is destroyed,    and all my cords are broken;  my children have gone from me,    and they are not;  there is no one to spread my tent again    and to set up my curtains.21   For the shepherds are stupid    and do not inquire of the LORD;  therefore they have not prospered,    and all their flock is scattered. 22   A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—    a great commotion out of the north country  to make the cities of Judah a desolation,    a lair of jackals. 23   I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself,    that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.24   Correct me, O LORD, but in justice;    not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing. 25   Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not,    and on the peoples that call not on your name,  for they have devoured Jacob;    they have devoured him and consumed him,    and have laid waste his habitation. Footnotes [1] 10:3 Or vapor, or mist [2] 10:5 Hebrew They [3] 10:11 This verse is in Aramaic (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Matthew 24 Matthew 24 (Listen) Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple 24 Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” Signs of the End of the Age 3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then many will fall away1 and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. The Abomination of Desolation 15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!' or ‘There he is!' do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. The Coming of the Son of Man 29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. The Lesson of the Fig Tree 32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. No One Knows That Day and Hour 36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son,2 but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant,3 whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,' 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants4 and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Footnotes [1] 24:10 Or stumble [2] 24:36 Some manuscripts omit nor the Son [3] 24:45 Or bondservant; also verses 46, 48, 50 [4] 24:49 Or bondservants (ESV)

Proper 5 First Psalm: Psalm 72 Psalm 72 (Listen) Give the King Your Justice Of Solomon. 72   Give the king your justice, O God,    and your righteousness to the royal son!2   May he judge your people with righteousness,    and your poor with justice!3   Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people,    and the hills, in righteousness!4   May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,    give deliverance to the children of the needy,    and crush the oppressor! 5   May they fear you1 while the sun endures,    and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!6   May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,    like showers that water the earth!7   In his days may the righteous flourish,    and peace abound, till the moon be no more! 8   May he have dominion from sea to sea,    and from the River2 to the ends of the earth!9   May desert tribes bow down before him,    and his enemies lick the dust!10   May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands    render him tribute;  may the kings of Sheba and Seba    bring gifts!11   May all kings fall down before him,    all nations serve him! 12   For he delivers the needy when he calls,    the poor and him who has no helper.13   He has pity on the weak and the needy,    and saves the lives of the needy.14   From oppression and violence he redeems their life,    and precious is their blood in his sight. 15   Long may he live;    may gold of Sheba be given to him!  May prayer be made for him continually,    and blessings invoked for him all the day!16   May there be abundance of grain in the land;    on the tops of the mountains may it wave;    may its fruit be like Lebanon;  and may people blossom in the cities    like the grass of the field!17   May his name endure forever,    his fame continue as long as the sun!  May people be blessed in him,    all nations call him blessed! 18   Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,    who alone does wondrous things.19   Blessed be his glorious name forever;    may the whole earth be filled with his glory!      Amen and Amen! 20   The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended. Footnotes [1] 72:5 Septuagint He shall endure [2] 72:8 That is, the Euphrates (ESV) Second Psalm: Psalm 119:73–96 Psalm 119:73–96 (Listen) Yodh 73   Your hands have made and fashioned me;    give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.74   Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice,    because I have hoped in your word.75   I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous,    and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.76   Let your steadfast love comfort me    according to your promise to your servant.77   Let your mercy come to me, that I may live;    for your law is my delight.78   Let the insolent be put to shame,    because they have wronged me with falsehood;    as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.79   Let those who fear you turn to me,    that they may know your testimonies.80   May my heart be blameless in your statutes,    that I may not be put to shame! Kaph 81   My soul longs for your salvation;    I hope in your word.82   My eyes long for your promise;    I ask, “When will you comfort me?”83   For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,    yet I have not forgotten your statutes.84   How long must your servant endure?1    When will you judge those who persecute me?85   The insolent have dug pitfalls for me;    they do not live according to your law.86   All your commandments are sure;    they persecute me with falsehood; help me!87   They have almost made an end of me on earth,    but I have not forsaken your precepts.88   In your steadfast love give me life,    that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth. Lamedh 89   Forever, O LORD, your word    is firmly fixed in the heavens.90   Your faithfulness endures to all generations;    you have established the earth, and it stands fast.91   By your appointment they stand this day,    for all things are your servants.92   If your law had not been my delight,    I would have perished in my affliction.93   I will never forget your precepts,    for by them you have given me life.94   I am yours; save me,    for I have sought your precepts.95   The wicked lie in wait to destroy me,    but I consider your testimonies.96   I have seen a limit to all perfection,    but your commandment is exceedingly broad. Footnotes [1] 119:84 Hebrew How many are the days of your servant? (ESV) Old Testament: Ecclesiastes 9:11–18 Ecclesiastes 9:11–18 (Listen) Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. (ESV) New Testament: Galatians 5:1–15 Galatians 5:1–15 (Listen) Christ Has Set Us Free 5 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified1 by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. 7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. 11 But if I, brothers,2 still preach3 circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves! 13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. Footnotes [1] 5:4 Or counted righteous [2] 5:11 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 13 [3] 5:11 Greek proclaim (ESV) Gospel: Matthew 16:1–12 Matthew 16:1–12 (Listen) The Pharisees and Sadducees Demand Signs 16 And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered them,1 “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' 3 And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed. The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees 5 When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. 6 Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7 And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” 8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? 9 Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 11 How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Footnotes [1] 16:2 Some manuscripts omit the following words to the end of verse 3 (ESV)

Ecclesiastes 9–12 Ecclesiastes 9–12 (Listen) Death Comes to All 9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,1 to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Enjoy Life with the One You Love 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain2 life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,3 for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. 10   Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench;    so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.2   A wise man's heart inclines him to the right,    but a fool's heart to the left.3   Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense,    and he says to everyone that he is a fool.4   If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place,    for calmness4 will lay great offenses to rest. 5 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were an error proceeding from the ruler: 6 folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place. 7 I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on the ground like slaves. 8   He who digs a pit will fall into it,    and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall.9   He who quarries stones is hurt by them,    and he who splits logs is endangered by them.10   If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge,    he must use more strength,    but wisdom helps one to succeed.511   If the serpent bites before it is charmed,    there is no advantage to the charmer. 12   The words of a wise man's mouth win him favor,6    but the lips of a fool consume him.13   The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness,    and the end of his talk is evil madness.14   A fool multiplies words,    though no man knows what is to be,    and who can tell him what will be after him?15   The toil of a fool wearies him,    for he does not know the way to the city. 16   Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,    and your princes feast in the morning!17   Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility,    and your princes feast at the proper time,    for strength, and not for drunkenness!18   Through sloth the roof sinks in,    and through indolence the house leaks.19   Bread is made for laughter,    and wine gladdens life,    and money answers everything.20   Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king,    nor in your bedroom curse the rich,  for a bird of the air will carry your voice,    or some winged creature tell the matter. Cast Your Bread upon the Waters 11   Cast your bread upon the waters,    for you will find it after many days.2   Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,    for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.3   If the clouds are full of rain,    they empty themselves on the earth,  and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,    in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.4   He who observes the wind will not sow,    and he who regards the clouds will not reap. 5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb7 of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. 6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. 7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. 8 So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.8 9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. 10 Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain9 from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. Remember Your Creator in Your Youth 12 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3 in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, 4 and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low—5 they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,10 and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets—6 before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8 Vanity11 of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. Fear God and Keep His Commandments 9 Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. 11 The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. 12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.12 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with13 every secret thing, whether good or evil. Footnotes [1] 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil [2] 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [3] 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it [4] 10:4 Hebrew healing [5] 10:10 Or wisdom is an advantage for success [6] 10:12 Or are gracious [7] 11:5 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Targum; most Hebrew manuscripts As you do not know the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb [8] 11:8 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also verse 10 (see note on 1:2) [9] 11:10 Or evil [10] 12:5 Or is a burden [11] 12:8 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (three times in this verse); see note on 1:2 [12] 12:13 Or the duty of all mankind [13] 12:14 Or into the judgment on (ESV)

With family: Leviticus 26; Psalm 33 Leviticus 26 (Listen) Blessings for Obedience 26 “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God. 2 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD. 3 “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, 4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 5 Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely. 6 I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land. 7 You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 8 Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. 9 I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with you. 10 You shall eat old store long kept, and you shall clear out the old to make way for the new. 11 I will make my dwelling1 among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect. Punishment for Disobedience 14 “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you. 18 And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins, 19 and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. 20 And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit. 21 “Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins. 22 And I will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number, so that your roads shall be deserted. 23 “And if by this discipline you are not turned to me but walk contrary to me, 24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins. 25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 26 When I break your supply2 of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied. 27 “But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, 28 then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins. 29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 And I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you. 31 And I will lay your cities waste and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing aromas. 32 And I myself will devastate the land, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be appalled at it. 33 And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste. 34 “Then the land shall enjoy3 its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were dwelling in it. 36 And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues. 37 They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues. And you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. 38 And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 39 And those of you who are left shall rot away in your enemies' lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them. 40 “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, 41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. 43 But the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes. 44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am the LORD their God. 45 But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.” 46 These are the statutes and rules and laws that the LORD made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai. Footnotes [1] 26:11 Hebrew tabernacle [2] 26:26 Hebrew staff [3] 26:34 Or pay for; twice in this verse; also verse 43 (ESV) Psalm 33 (Listen) The Steadfast Love of the Lord 33   Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!    Praise befits the upright.2   Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre;    make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!3   Sing to him a new song;    play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. 4   For the word of the LORD is upright,    and all his work is done in faithfulness.5   He loves righteousness and justice;    the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD. 6   By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,    and by the breath of his mouth all their host.7   He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;    he puts the deeps in storehouses. 8   Let all the earth fear the LORD;    let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!9   For he spoke, and it came to be;    he commanded, and it stood firm. 10   The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;    he frustrates the plans of the peoples.11   The counsel of the LORD stands forever,    the plans of his heart to all generations.12   Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,    the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! 13   The LORD looks down from heaven;    he sees all the children of man;14   from where he sits enthroned he looks out    on all the inhabitants of the earth,15   he who fashions the hearts of them all    and observes all their deeds.16   The king is not saved by his great army;    a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.17   The war horse is a false hope for salvation,    and by its great might it cannot rescue. 18   Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,    on those who hope in his steadfast love,19   that he may deliver their soul from death    and keep them alive in famine. 20   Our soul waits for the LORD;    he is our help and our shield.21   For our heart is glad in him,    because we trust in his holy name.22   Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,    even as we hope in you. (ESV) In private: Ecclesiastes 9; Titus 1 Ecclesiastes 9 (Listen) Death Comes to All 9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,1 to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Enjoy Life with the One You Love 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain2 life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,3 for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. Footnotes [1] 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil [2] 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [3] 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it (ESV) Titus 1 (Listen) Greeting 1 Paul, a servant1 of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began2 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word3 through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior; 4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. Qualifications for Elders 5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,4 and his children are believers5 and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer,6 as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound7 doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. 10 For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.8 11 They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 One of the Cretans,9 a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”10 13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. Footnotes [1] 1:1 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface [2] 1:2 Greek before times eternal [3] 1:3 Or manifested his word [4] 1:6 Or a man of one woman [5] 1:6 Or are faithful [6] 1:7 Or bishop; Greek episkopos [7] 1:9 Or healthy; also verse 13 [8] 1:10 Or especially those of the circumcision [9] 1:12 Greek One of them [10] 1:12 Probably from Epimenides of Crete (ESV)

How is wisdom better than folly? In this devotional, I share three thoughts from Ecclesiastes 9:11-18. 1. Limitations. 2. Saves lives. 3. Does good. These thoughts come from assigned reading - Ecclesiastes 9-10. If you would like to read through the Bible with me you can do so by joining the Facebook group Through the Bible. Music provided by texasradiofish. All readings are from the ESV unless otherwise noted. Read this devotional's chapters here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes+9-10&version=ESV Join Through the Bible here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/throughthebibletogether/ Watch more devotionals here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ2HW1s_Tp3amJY4Jj2QmZfFpvQAOcUOn Thanks for joining me as we read through the text of scripture together. #ThreeThoughts #ShortBibleLesson #DailyDevotional

Ecclesiastes 8 NIV1 Who is like the wise? Who knows the explanation of things?A person's wisdom brightens their face and changes its hard appearance.Obey the King2 Obey the king's command, I say, because you took an oath before God. 3 Do not be in a hurry to leave the king's presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. 4 Since a king's word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?”5 Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.6 For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery.7 Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?8 As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so[a] no one has power over the time of their death.As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.9 All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own[b] hurt. 10 Then too, I saw the wicked buried—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise[c] in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.11 When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people's hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. 12 Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. 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 something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. 15 So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night— 17 then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.Footnotes[a] Ecclesiastes 8:8 Or over the human spirit to retain it, / and so[b] Ecclesiastes 8:9 Or to their[c] Ecclesiastes 8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint (Aquila); most Hebrew manuscripts and are forgottenEcclesiastes 9 NIVA Common Destiny for All1 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God's hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them. 2 All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,[a] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.As it is with the good, so with the sinful;as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them.3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. 4 Anyone who is among the living has hope[b]—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing;they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten.6 Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished;never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.11 I have seen something else under the sun:The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong,nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned;but time and chance happen to them all.12 Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare,so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.Wisdom Better Than Folly13 I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: 14 There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. 15 Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. 16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.17 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools.18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.Footnotes[a] Ecclesiastes 9:2 Septuagint (Aquila), Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew does not have and the bad.[b] Ecclesiastes 9:4 Or What then is to be chosen? With all who live, there is hope

Ecclesiastes 8 NIV1 Who is like the wise? Who knows the explanation of things?A person's wisdom brightens their face and changes its hard appearance.Obey the King2 Obey the king's command, I say, because you took an oath before God. 3 Do not be in a hurry to leave the king's presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. 4 Since a king's word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?”5 Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.6 For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery.7 Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?8 As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so[a] no one has power over the time of their death.As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.9 All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own[b] hurt. 10 Then too, I saw the wicked buried—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise[c] in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.11 When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people's hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. 12 Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. 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 something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. 15 So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night— 17 then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.Footnotes[a] Ecclesiastes 8:8 Or over the human spirit to retain it, / and so[b] Ecclesiastes 8:9 Or to their[c] Ecclesiastes 8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint (Aquila); most Hebrew manuscripts and are forgottenEcclesiastes 9 NIVA Common Destiny for All1 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God's hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them. 2 All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,[a] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.As it is with the good, so with the sinful;as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them.3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. 4 Anyone who is among the living has hope[b]—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing;they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten.6 Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished;never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.11 I have seen something else under the sun:The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong,nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned;but time and chance happen to them all.12 Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare,so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.Wisdom Better Than Folly13 I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: 14 There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. 15 Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. 16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.17 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools.18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.Footnotes[a] Ecclesiastes 9:2 Septuagint (Aquila), Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew does not have and the bad.[b] Ecclesiastes 9:4 Or What then is to be chosen? With all who live, there is hope

Morning: 2 Chronicles 20:12; Psalm 25:9; Psalm 123:1–2; Psalm 143:8; Proverbs 16:9; Ecclesiastes 9:11; Matthew 5:5; John 16:13; James 1:5 He… teaches the humble his way. “Blessed are the meek.” Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge.—The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God.—Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. “O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” 2 Chronicles 20:12 (Listen) 12 O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (ESV) Psalm 25:9 (Listen) 9   He leads the humble in what is right,    and teaches the humble his way. (ESV) Psalm 123:1–2 (Listen) Our Eyes Look to the Lord Our God A Song of Ascents. 123   To you I lift up my eyes,    O you who are enthroned in the heavens!2   Behold, as the eyes of servants    look to the hand of their master,  as the eyes of a maidservant    to the hand of her mistress,  so our eyes look to the LORD our God,    till he has mercy upon us. (ESV) Psalm 143:8 (Listen) 8   Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,    for in you I trust.  Make me know the way I should go,    for to you I lift up my soul. (ESV) Proverbs 16:9 (Listen) 9   The heart of man plans his way,    but the LORD establishes his steps. (ESV) Ecclesiastes 9:11 (Listen) Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. (ESV) Matthew 5:5 (Listen) 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (ESV) John 16:13 (Listen) 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. (ESV) James 1:5 (Listen) 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. (ESV) Evening: 2 Samuel 7:29; 1 Chronicles 17:27; Psalm 41:1; Psalm 84:11; Proverbs 10:22; Matthew 25:34–36; Luke 14:13–14; Acts 20:35 “O Lord God,… with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.” “You, O Lord, who… blessed, and it is blessed forever.”—The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it. “Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'”—“When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”—“Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him.—The Lord God is a sun and shield. 2 Samuel 7:29 (Listen) 29 Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.” (ESV) 1 Chronicles 17:27 (Listen) 27 Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you, for it is you, O LORD, who have blessed, and it is blessed forever.” (ESV) Psalm 41:1 (Listen) O Lord, Be Gracious to Me To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. 41   Blessed is the one who considers the poor!1    In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him; Footnotes [1] 41:1 Or weak (ESV) Psalm 84:11 (Listen) 11   For the LORD God is a sun and shield;    the LORD bestows favor and honor.  No good thing does he withhold    from those who walk uprightly. (ESV) Proverbs 10:22 (Listen) 22   The blessing of the LORD makes rich,    and he adds no sorrow with it.1 Footnotes [1] 10:22 Or and toil adds nothing to it (ESV) Matthew 25:34–36 (Listen) 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' (ESV) Luke 14:13–14 (Listen) 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (ESV) Acts 20:35 (Listen) 35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'” (ESV)

Old Testament: Ecclesiastes 7–9 Ecclesiastes 7–9 (Listen) The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly 7   A good name is better than precious ointment,    and the day of death than the day of birth.2   It is better to go to the house of mourning    than to go to the house of feasting,  for this is the end of all mankind,    and the living will lay it to heart.3   Sorrow is better than laughter,    for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.4   The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,    but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.5   It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise    than to hear the song of fools.6   For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,    so is the laughter of the fools;    this also is vanity.17   Surely oppression drives the wise into madness,    and a bribe corrupts the heart.8   Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,    and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.9   Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,    for anger lodges in the heart2 of fools.10   Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”    For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.11   Wisdom is good with an inheritance,    an advantage to those who see the sun.12   For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,    and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.13   Consider the work of God:    who can make straight what he has made crooked? 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. 15 In my vain3 life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them. 19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. 21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. 23 All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? 25 I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things—28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. Keep the King's Command 8   Who is like the wise?    And who knows the interpretation of a thing?  A man's wisdom makes his face shine,    and the hardness of his face is changed. 2 I say:4 Keep the king's command, because of God's oath to him.5 3 Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. 4 For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” 5 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.6 6 For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble7 lies heavy on him. 7 For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? 8 No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. 9 All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt. Those Who Fear God Will Do Well 10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised8 in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.9 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. Man Cannot Know God's Ways 14 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15 And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. 16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one's eyes see sleep, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out. Death Comes to All 9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,10 to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Enjoy Life with the One You Love 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain11 life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,12 for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. Footnotes [1] 7:6 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [2] 7:9 Hebrew in the bosom [3] 7:15 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [4] 8:2 Hebrew lacks say [5] 8:2 Or because of your oath to God [6] 8:5 Or and judgment [7] 8:6 Or evil [8] 8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts forgotten [9] 8:10 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also twice in verse 14 (see note on 1:2) [10] 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil [11] 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [12] 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it (ESV) New Testament: Philemon 8–22 Philemon 8–22 (Listen) Paul's Plea for Onesimus 8 Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, 9 yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus—10 I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus,1 whose father I became in my imprisonment. 11 (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. 15 For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 no longer as a bondservant2 but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 17 So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you. Footnotes [1] 1:10 Onesimus means useful (see verse 11) or beneficial (see verse 20) [2] 1:16 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface; twice in this verse (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 78:1–39 Psalm 78:1–39 (Listen) Tell the Coming Generation A Maskil1 of Asaph. 78   Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;    incline your ears to the words of my mouth!2   I will open my mouth in a parable;    I will utter dark sayings from of old,3   things that we have heard and known,    that our fathers have told us.4   We will not hide them from their children,    but tell to the coming generation  the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,    and the wonders that he has done. 5   He established a testimony in Jacob    and appointed a law in Israel,  which he commanded our fathers    to teach to their children,6   that the next generation might know them,    the children yet unborn,  and arise and tell them to their children,7     so that they should set their hope in God  and not forget the works of God,    but keep his commandments;8   and that they should not be like their fathers,    a stubborn and rebellious generation,  a generation whose heart was not steadfast,    whose spirit was not faithful to God. 9   The Ephraimites, armed with2 the bow,    turned back on the day of battle.10   They did not keep God's covenant,    but refused to walk according to his law.11   They forgot his works    and the wonders that he had shown them.12   In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders    in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.13   He divided the sea and let them pass through it,    and made the waters stand like a heap.14   In the daytime he led them with a cloud,    and all the night with a fiery light.15   He split rocks in the wilderness    and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.16   He made streams come out of the rock    and caused waters to flow down like rivers. 17   Yet they sinned still more against him,    rebelling against the Most High in the desert.18   They tested God in their heart    by demanding the food they craved.19   They spoke against God, saying,    “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?20   He struck the rock so that water gushed out    and streams overflowed.  Can he also give bread    or provide meat for his people?” 21   Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath;    a fire was kindled against Jacob;    his anger rose against Israel,22   because they did not believe in God    and did not trust his saving power.23   Yet he commanded the skies above    and opened the doors of heaven,24   and he rained down on them manna to eat    and gave them the grain of heaven.25   Man ate of the bread of the angels;    he sent them food in abundance.26   He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,    and by his power he led out the south wind;27   he rained meat on them like dust,    winged birds like the sand of the seas;28   he let them fall in the midst of their camp,    all around their dwellings.29   And they ate and were well filled,    for he gave them what they craved.30   But before they had satisfied their craving,    while the food was still in their mouths,31   the anger of God rose against them,    and he killed the strongest of them    and laid low the young men of Israel. 32   In spite of all this, they still sinned;    despite his wonders, they did not believe.33   So he made their days vanish like3 a breath,4    and their years in terror.34   When he killed them, they sought him;    they repented and sought God earnestly.35   They remembered that God was their rock,    the Most High God their redeemer.36   But they flattered him with their mouths;    they lied to him with their tongues.37   Their heart was not steadfast toward him;    they were not faithful to his covenant.38   Yet he, being compassionate,    atoned for their iniquity    and did not destroy them;  he restrained his anger often    and did not stir up all his wrath.39   He remembered that they were but flesh,    a wind that passes and comes not again. Footnotes [1] 78:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term [2] 78:9 Hebrew armed and shooting [3] 78:33 Hebrew in [4] 78:33 Or vapor (ESV) Proverb: Proverbs 24:8 Proverbs 24:8 (Listen) 8   Whoever plans to do evil    will be called a schemer. (ESV)

Old Testament: Ecclesiastes 7–9 Ecclesiastes 7–9 (Listen) The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly 7   A good name is better than precious ointment,    and the day of death than the day of birth.2   It is better to go to the house of mourning    than to go to the house of feasting,  for this is the end of all mankind,    and the living will lay it to heart.3   Sorrow is better than laughter,    for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.4   The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,    but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.5   It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise    than to hear the song of fools.6   For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,    so is the laughter of the fools;    this also is vanity.17   Surely oppression drives the wise into madness,    and a bribe corrupts the heart.8   Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,    and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.9   Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,    for anger lodges in the heart2 of fools.10   Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”    For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.11   Wisdom is good with an inheritance,    an advantage to those who see the sun.12   For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,    and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.13   Consider the work of God:    who can make straight what he has made crooked? 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. 15 In my vain3 life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them. 19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. 21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. 23 All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? 25 I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things—28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. Keep the King's Command 8   Who is like the wise?    And who knows the interpretation of a thing?  A man's wisdom makes his face shine,    and the hardness of his face is changed. 2 I say:4 Keep the king's command, because of God's oath to him.5 3 Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. 4 For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” 5 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.6 6 For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble7 lies heavy on him. 7 For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? 8 No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. 9 All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt. Those Who Fear God Will Do Well 10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised8 in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.9 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. Man Cannot Know God's Ways 14 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15 And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. 16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one's eyes see sleep, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out. Death Comes to All 9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,10 to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Enjoy Life with the One You Love 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain11 life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,12 for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. Footnotes [1] 7:6 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [2] 7:9 Hebrew in the bosom [3] 7:15 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [4] 8:2 Hebrew lacks say [5] 8:2 Or because of your oath to God [6] 8:5 Or and judgment [7] 8:6 Or evil [8] 8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts forgotten [9] 8:10 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also twice in verse 14 (see note on 1:2) [10] 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil [11] 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [12] 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 78:1–39 Psalm 78:1–39 (Listen) Tell the Coming Generation A Maskil1 of Asaph. 78   Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;    incline your ears to the words of my mouth!2   I will open my mouth in a parable;    I will utter dark sayings from of old,3   things that we have heard and known,    that our fathers have told us.4   We will not hide them from their children,    but tell to the coming generation  the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,    and the wonders that he has done. 5   He established a testimony in Jacob    and appointed a law in Israel,  which he commanded our fathers    to teach to their children,6   that the next generation might know them,    the children yet unborn,  and arise and tell them to their children,7     so that they should set their hope in God  and not forget the works of God,    but keep his commandments;8   and that they should not be like their fathers,    a stubborn and rebellious generation,  a generation whose heart was not steadfast,    whose spirit was not faithful to God. 9   The Ephraimites, armed with2 the bow,    turned back on the day of battle.10   They did not keep God's covenant,    but refused to walk according to his law.11   They forgot his works    and the wonders that he had shown them.12   In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders    in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.13   He divided the sea and let them pass through it,    and made the waters stand like a heap.14   In the daytime he led them with a cloud,    and all the night with a fiery light.15   He split rocks in the wilderness    and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.16   He made streams come out of the rock    and caused waters to flow down like rivers. 17   Yet they sinned still more against him,    rebelling against the Most High in the desert.18   They tested God in their heart    by demanding the food they craved.19   They spoke against God, saying,    “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?20   He struck the rock so that water gushed out    and streams overflowed.  Can he also give bread    or provide meat for his people?” 21   Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath;    a fire was kindled against Jacob;    his anger rose against Israel,22   because they did not believe in God    and did not trust his saving power.23   Yet he commanded the skies above    and opened the doors of heaven,24   and he rained down on them manna to eat    and gave them the grain of heaven.25   Man ate of the bread of the angels;    he sent them food in abundance.26   He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,    and by his power he led out the south wind;27   he rained meat on them like dust,    winged birds like the sand of the seas;28   he let them fall in the midst of their camp,    all around their dwellings.29   And they ate and were well filled,    for he gave them what they craved.30   But before they had satisfied their craving,    while the food was still in their mouths,31   the anger of God rose against them,    and he killed the strongest of them    and laid low the young men of Israel. 32   In spite of all this, they still sinned;    despite his wonders, they did not believe.33   So he made their days vanish like3 a breath,4    and their years in terror.34   When he killed them, they sought him;    they repented and sought God earnestly.35   They remembered that God was their rock,    the Most High God their redeemer.36   But they flattered him with their mouths;    they lied to him with their tongues.37   Their heart was not steadfast toward him;    they were not faithful to his covenant.38   Yet he, being compassionate,    atoned for their iniquity    and did not destroy them;  he restrained his anger often    and did not stir up all his wrath.39   He remembered that they were but flesh,    a wind that passes and comes not again. Footnotes [1] 78:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term [2] 78:9 Hebrew armed and shooting [3] 78:33 Hebrew in [4] 78:33 Or vapor (ESV) New Testament: John 20–21 John 20–21 (Listen) The Resurrection 20 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus'1 head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes. Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic,2 “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her. Jesus Appears to the Disciples 19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews,3 Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” Jesus and Thomas 24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin,4 was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the

Morning: Ecclesiastes 7–9 Ecclesiastes 7–9 (Listen) The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly 7   A good name is better than precious ointment,    and the day of death than the day of birth.2   It is better to go to the house of mourning    than to go to the house of feasting,  for this is the end of all mankind,    and the living will lay it to heart.3   Sorrow is better than laughter,    for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.4   The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,    but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.5   It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise    than to hear the song of fools.6   For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,    so is the laughter of the fools;    this also is vanity.17   Surely oppression drives the wise into madness,    and a bribe corrupts the heart.8   Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,    and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.9   Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,    for anger lodges in the heart2 of fools.10   Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”    For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.11   Wisdom is good with an inheritance,    an advantage to those who see the sun.12   For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,    and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.13   Consider the work of God:    who can make straight what he has made crooked? 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. 15 In my vain3 life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them. 19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. 21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. 23 All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? 25 I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things—28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. Keep the King's Command 8   Who is like the wise?    And who knows the interpretation of a thing?  A man's wisdom makes his face shine,    and the hardness of his face is changed. 2 I say:4 Keep the king's command, because of God's oath to him.5 3 Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. 4 For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” 5 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.6 6 For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble7 lies heavy on him. 7 For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? 8 No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. 9 All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt. Those Who Fear God Will Do Well 10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised8 in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.9 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. Man Cannot Know God's Ways 14 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15 And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. 16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one's eyes see sleep, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out. Death Comes to All 9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,10 to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Enjoy Life with the One You Love 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain11 life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,12 for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. Footnotes [1] 7:6 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [2] 7:9 Hebrew in the bosom [3] 7:15 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [4] 8:2 Hebrew lacks say [5] 8:2 Or because of your oath to God [6] 8:5 Or and judgment [7] 8:6 Or evil [8] 8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts forgotten [9] 8:10 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also twice in verse 14 (see note on 1:2) [10] 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil [11] 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [12] 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it (ESV) Evening: 2 Corinthians 11:1–15 2 Corinthians 11:1–15 (Listen) Paul and the False Apostles 11 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. 5 Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. 6 Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. 7 Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God's gospel to you free of charge? 8 I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. 9 And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. 10 As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. 11 And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! 12 And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. (ESV)

Ecclesiastes 9–12 Ecclesiastes 9–12 (Listen) Death Comes to All 9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,1 to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Enjoy Life with the One You Love 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain2 life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,3 for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. 10   Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench;    so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.2   A wise man's heart inclines him to the right,    but a fool's heart to the left.3   Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense,    and he says to everyone that he is a fool.4   If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place,    for calmness4 will lay great offenses to rest. 5 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were an error proceeding from the ruler: 6 folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place. 7 I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on the ground like slaves. 8   He who digs a pit will fall into it,    and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall.9   He who quarries stones is hurt by them,    and he who splits logs is endangered by them.10   If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge,    he must use more strength,    but wisdom helps one to succeed.511   If the serpent bites before it is charmed,    there is no advantage to the charmer. 12   The words of a wise man's mouth win him favor,6    but the lips of a fool consume him.13   The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness,    and the end of his talk is evil madness.14   A fool multiplies words,    though no man knows what is to be,    and who can tell him what will be after him?15   The toil of a fool wearies him,    for he does not know the way to the city. 16   Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,    and your princes feast in the morning!17   Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility,    and your princes feast at the proper time,    for strength, and not for drunkenness!18   Through sloth the roof sinks in,    and through indolence the house leaks.19   Bread is made for laughter,    and wine gladdens life,    and money answers everything.20   Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king,    nor in your bedroom curse the rich,  for a bird of the air will carry your voice,    or some winged creature tell the matter. Cast Your Bread upon the Waters 11   Cast your bread upon the waters,    for you will find it after many days.2   Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,    for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.3   If the clouds are full of rain,    they empty themselves on the earth,  and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,    in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.4   He who observes the wind will not sow,    and he who regards the clouds will not reap. 5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb7 of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. 6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. 7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. 8 So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.8 9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. 10 Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain9 from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. Remember Your Creator in Your Youth 12 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3 in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, 4 and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low—5 they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,10 and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets—6 before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8 Vanity11 of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. Fear God and Keep His Commandments 9 Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. 11 The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. 12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.12 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with13 every secret thing, whether good or evil. Footnotes [1] 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil [2] 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [3] 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it [4] 10:4 Hebrew healing [5] 10:10 Or wisdom is an advantage for success [6] 10:12 Or are gracious [7] 11:5 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Targum; most Hebrew manuscripts As you do not know the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb [8] 11:8 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also verse 10 (see note on 1:2) [9] 11:10 Or evil [10] 12:5 Or is a burden [11] 12:8 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (three times in this verse); see note on 1:2 [12] 12:13 Or the duty of all mankind [13] 12:14 Or into the judgment on (ESV)

Psalms and Wisdom: Ecclesiastes 9:11–18 Ecclesiastes 9:11–18 (Listen) Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Joshua 16–17 Joshua 16–17 (Listen) The Allotment for Ephraim and Manasseh 16 The allotment of the people of Joseph went from the Jordan by Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, into the wilderness, going up from Jericho into the hill country to Bethel. 2 Then going from Bethel to Luz, it passes along to Ataroth, the territory of the Archites. 3 Then it goes down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of Lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, and it ends at the sea. 4 The people of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance. 5 The territory of the people of Ephraim by their clans was as follows: the boundary of their inheritance on the east was Ataroth-addar as far as Upper Beth-horon, 6 and the boundary goes from there to the sea. On the north is Michmethath. Then on the east the boundary turns around toward Taanath-shiloh and passes along beyond it on the east to Janoah, 7 then it goes down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah, and touches Jericho, ending at the Jordan. 8 From Tappuah the boundary goes westward to the brook Kanah and ends at the sea. Such is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Ephraim by their clans, 9 together with the towns that were set apart for the people of Ephraim within the inheritance of the Manassites, all those towns with their villages. 10 However, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day but have been made to do forced labor. 17 Then allotment was made to the people of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. To Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a man of war. 2 And allotments were made to the rest of the people of Manasseh by their clans, Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These were the male descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph, by their clans. 3 Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters, and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 They approached Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the leaders and said, “The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance along with our brothers.” So according to the mouth of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father. 5 Thus there fell to Manasseh ten portions, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is on the other side of the Jordan, 6 because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance along with his sons. The land of Gilead was allotted to the rest of the people of Manasseh. 7 The territory of Manasseh reached from Asher to Michmethath, which is east of Shechem. Then the boundary goes along southward to the inhabitants of En-tappuah. 8 The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah on the boundary of Manasseh belonged to the people of Ephraim. 9 Then the boundary went down to the brook Kanah. These cities, to the south of the brook, among the cities of Manasseh, belong to Ephraim. Then the boundary of Manasseh goes on the north side of the brook and ends at the sea, 10 the land to the south being Ephraim's and that to the north being Manasseh's, with the sea forming its boundary. On the north Asher is reached, and on the east Issachar. 11 Also in Issachar and in Asher Manasseh had Beth-shean and its villages, and Ibleam and its villages, and the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its villages, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; the third is Naphath.1 12 Yet the people of Manasseh could not take possession of those cities, but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. 13 Now when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out. 14 Then the people of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me but one lot and one portion as an inheritance, although I am a numerous people, since all along the LORD has blessed me?” 15 And Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up by yourselves to the forest, and there clear ground for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.” 16 The people of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us. Yet all the Canaanites who dwell in the plain have chariots of iron, both those in Beth-shean and its villages and those in the Valley of Jezreel.” 17 Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power. You shall not have one allotment only, 18 but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.” Footnotes [1] 17:11 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Jeremiah 9:23–10:25 Jeremiah 9:23–10:25 (Listen) 23 Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.” 25 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh—26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.” Idols and the Living God 10 Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says the LORD:   “Learn not the way of the nations,    nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens    because the nations are dismayed at them,3   for the customs of the peoples are vanity.1  A tree from the forest is cut down    and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.4   They decorate it with silver and gold;    they fasten it with hammer and nails    so that it cannot move.5   Their idols2 are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,    and they cannot speak;  they have to be carried,    for they cannot walk.  Do not be afraid of them,    for they cannot do evil,    neither is it in them to do good.” 6   There is none like you, O LORD;    you are great, and your name is great in might.7   Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?    For this is your due;  for among all the wise ones of the nations    and in all their kingdoms    there is none like you.8   They are both stupid and foolish;    the instruction of idols is but wood!9   Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,    and gold from Uphaz.  They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;    their clothing is violet and purple;    they are all the work of skilled men.10   But the LORD is the true God;    he is the living God and the everlasting King.  At his wrath the earth quakes,    and the nations cannot endure his indignation. 11 Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”3 12   It is he who made the earth by his power,    who established the world by his wisdom,    and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.13   When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,    and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.  He makes lightning for the rain,    and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.14   Every man is stupid and without knowledge;    every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,  for his images are false,    and there is no breath in them.15   They are worthless, a work of delusion;    at the time of their punishment they shall perish.16   Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,    for he is the one who formed all things,  and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;    the LORD of hosts is his name. 17   Gather up your bundle from the ground,    O you who dwell under siege!18   For thus says the LORD:  “Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land    at this time,  and I will bring distress on them,    that they may feel it.” 19   Woe is me because of my hurt!    My wound is grievous.  But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,    and I must bear it.”20   My tent is destroyed,    and all my cords are broken;  my children have gone from me,    and they are not;  there is no one to spread my tent again    and to set up my curtains.21   For the shepherds are stupid    and do not inquire of the LORD;  therefore they have not prospered,    and all their flock is scattered. 22   A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—    a great commotion out of the north country  to make the cities of Judah a desolation,    a lair of jackals. 23   I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself,    that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.24   Correct me, O LORD, but in justice;    not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing. 25   Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not,    and on the peoples that call not on your name,  for they have devoured Jacob;    they have devoured him and consumed him,    and have laid waste his habitation. Footnotes [1] 10:3 Or vapor, or mist [2] 10:5 Hebrew They [3] 10:11 This verse is in Aramaic (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Matthew 24 Matthew 24 (Listen) Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple 24 Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” Signs of the End of the Age 3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then many will fall away1 and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. The Abomination of Desolation 15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!' or ‘There he is!' do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. The Coming of the Son of Man 29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. The Lesson of the Fig Tree 32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. No One Knows That Day and Hour 36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son,2 but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant,3 whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,' 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants4 and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Footnotes [1] 24:10 Or stumble [2] 24:36 Some manuscripts omit nor the Son [3] 24:45 Or bondservant; also verses 46, 48, 50 [4] 24:49 Or bondservants (ESV)

Wisdom Better Than Folly (Ecclesiastes 9:13-10:20) by Edgington EPC

Ecclesiastes 9–12 Ecclesiastes 9–12 (Listen) Death Comes to All 9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,1 to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Enjoy Life with the One You Love 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain2 life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,3 for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. 10   Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench;    so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.2   A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right,    but a fool’s heart to the left.3   Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense,    and he says to everyone that he is a fool.4   If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place,    for calmness4 will lay great offenses to rest. 5 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were an error proceeding from the ruler: 6 folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place. 7 I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on the ground like slaves. 8   He who digs a pit will fall into it,    and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall.9   He who quarries stones is hurt by them,    and he who splits logs is endangered by them.10   If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge,    he must use more strength,    but wisdom helps one to succeed.511   If the serpent bites before it is charmed,    there is no advantage to the charmer. 12   The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor,6    but the lips of a fool consume him.13   The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness,    and the end of his talk is evil madness.14   A fool multiplies words,    though no man knows what is to be,    and who can tell him what will be after him?15   The toil of a fool wearies him,    for he does not know the way to the city. 16   Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,    and your princes feast in the morning!17   Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility,    and your princes feast at the proper time,    for strength, and not for drunkenness!18   Through sloth the roof sinks in,    and through indolence the house leaks.19   Bread is made for laughter,    and wine gladdens life,    and money answers everything.20   Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king,    nor in your bedroom curse the rich,  for a bird of the air will carry your voice,    or some winged creature tell the matter. Cast Your Bread upon the Waters 11   Cast your bread upon the waters,    for you will find it after many days.2   Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,    for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.3   If the clouds are full of rain,    they empty themselves on the earth,  and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,    in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.4   He who observes the wind will not sow,    and he who regards the clouds will not reap. 5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb7 of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. 6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. 7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. 8 So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.8 9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. 10 Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain9 from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. Remember Your Creator in Your Youth 12 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3 in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, 4 and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low—5 they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,10 and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets—6 before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8 Vanity11 of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. Fear God and Keep His Commandments 9 Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. 11 The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. 12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.12 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with13 every secret thing, whether good or evil. Footnotes [1] 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil [2] 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [3] 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it [4] 10:4 Hebrew healing [5] 10:10 Or wisdom is an advantage for success [6] 10:12 Or are gracious [7] 11:5 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Targum; most Hebrew manuscripts As you do not know the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb [8] 11:8 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also verse 10 (see note on 1:2) [9] 11:10 Or evil [10] 12:5 Or is a burden [11] 12:8 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (three times in this verse); see note on 1:2 [12] 12:13 Or the duty of all mankind [13] 12:14 Or into the judgment on (ESV)

With family: Leviticus 26; Psalm 33 Leviticus 26 (Listen) Blessings for Obedience 26 “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God. 2 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD. 3 “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, 4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 5 Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely. 6 I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land. 7 You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 8 Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. 9 I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with you. 10 You shall eat old store long kept, and you shall clear out the old to make way for the new. 11 I will make my dwelling1 among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect. Punishment for Disobedience 14 “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you. 18 And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins, 19 and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. 20 And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit. 21 “Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins. 22 And I will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number, so that your roads shall be deserted. 23 “And if by this discipline you are not turned to me but walk contrary to me, 24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins. 25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 26 When I break your supply2 of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied. 27 “But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, 28 then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins. 29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 And I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you. 31 And I will lay your cities waste and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing aromas. 32 And I myself will devastate the land, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be appalled at it. 33 And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste. 34 “Then the land shall enjoy3 its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were dwelling in it. 36 And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues. 37 They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues. And you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. 38 And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 39 And those of you who are left shall rot away in your enemies’ lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them. 40 “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, 41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. 43 But the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes. 44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am the LORD their God. 45 But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.” 46 These are the statutes and rules and laws that the LORD made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai. Footnotes [1] 26:11 Hebrew tabernacle [2] 26:26 Hebrew staff [3] 26:34 Or pay for; twice in this verse; also verse 43 (ESV) Psalm 33 (Listen) The Steadfast Love of the Lord 33   Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!    Praise befits the upright.2   Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre;    make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!3   Sing to him a new song;    play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. 4   For the word of the LORD is upright,    and all his work is done in faithfulness.5   He loves righteousness and justice;    the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD. 6   By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,    and by the breath of his mouth all their host.7   He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;    he puts the deeps in storehouses. 8   Let all the earth fear the LORD;    let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!9   For he spoke, and it came to be;    he commanded, and it stood firm. 10   The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;    he frustrates the plans of the peoples.11   The counsel of the LORD stands forever,    the plans of his heart to all generations.12   Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,    the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! 13   The LORD looks down from heaven;    he sees all the children of man;14   from where he sits enthroned he looks out    on all the inhabitants of the earth,15   he who fashions the hearts of them all    and observes all their deeds.16   The king is not saved by his great army;    a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.17   The war horse is a false hope for salvation,    and by its great might it cannot rescue. 18   Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,    on those who hope in his steadfast love,19   that he may deliver their soul from death    and keep them alive in famine. 20   Our soul waits for the LORD;    he is our help and our shield.21   For our heart is glad in him,    because we trust in his holy name.22   Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,    even as we hope in you. (ESV) In private: Ecclesiastes 9; Titus 1 Ecclesiastes 9 (Listen) Death Comes to All 9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,1 to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Enjoy Life with the One You Love 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain2 life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,3 for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Wisdom Better Than Folly 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. Footnotes [1] 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil [2] 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2) [3] 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it (ESV) Titus 1 (Listen) Greeting 1 Paul, a servant1 of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began2 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word3 through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior; 4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. Qualifications for Elders 5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,4 and his children are believers5 and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer,6 as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound7 doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. 10 For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.8 11 They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 One of the Cretans,9 a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”10 13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. Footnotes [1] 1:1 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface [2] 1:2 Greek before times eternal [3] 1:3 Or manifested his word [4] 1:6 Or a man of one woman [5] 1:6 Or are faithful [6] 1:7 Or bishop; Greek episkopos [7] 1:9 Or healthy; also verse 13 [8] 1:10 Or especially those of the circumcision [9] 1:12 Greek One of them [10] 1:12 Probably from Epimenides of Crete (ESV)