The Gospel of Mark (Part Seven)

Life Light: Gospel of John

Romans: Faith That Changes Everything

Heart Over Hype: Returning to Authentic Faith

Connect With God Through Remembrance | 7-Day Devotional

REDEEM: A Journey of Healing Through Divorce and Addiction

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Spirit + Bride

God's Purposes in Motherhood

I Am Happy: Finding Joy in Who God Says I Am

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkECC">
      <div class="chapter ch7" data-usfm="ECC.7">
         <div class="label">7</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Wisdom</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.7.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">A good name is better than fine perfume,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.7.1"><span class="content">and the day of death better than the day of birth.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.7.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.7.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">It is better to go to a house of mourning</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.7.2"><span class="content">than to go to a house of feasting,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.7.2"><span class="content">for death is the destiny of everyone;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.7.2"><span class="content">the living should take this to heart.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.7.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.7.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Frustration is better than laughter,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.7.3"><span class="content">because a sad face is good for the heart.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.7.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.7.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.7.4"><span class="content">but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.7.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.7.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.7.5"><span class="content">than to listen to the song of fools.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.7.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.7.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Like the crackling of thorns under the pot,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.7.6"><span class="content">so is the laughter of fools.</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.7.6"><span class="content">This too is meaningless.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.7.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.7.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Extortion turns a wise person into a fool,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.7.7"><span class="content">and a bribe corrupts the heart.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.7.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.7.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">The end of a matter is better than its beginning,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.7.8"><span class="content">and patience is better than pride.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.7.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.7.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.7.9"><span class="content">for anger resides in the lap of fools.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.7.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.7.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Do not say, &#8220;Why were the old days better than these?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.7.10"><span class="content">For it is not wise to ask such questions.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.7.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.7.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.7.11"><span class="content">and benefits those who see the sun.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.7.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.7.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Wisdom is a shelter</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.7.12"><span class="content">as money is a shelter,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.7.12"><span class="content">but the advantage of knowledge is this:</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.7.12"><span class="content">Wisdom preserves those who have it.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.7.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.7.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">Consider what God has done:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.7.13"><span class="content">Who can straighten</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.7.13"><span class="content">what he has made crooked?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.7.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.7.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">When times are good, be happy;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.7.14"><span class="content">but when times are bad, consider this:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.7.14"><span class="content">God has made the one</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.7.14"><span class="content">as well as the other.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.7.14"><span class="content">Therefore, no one can discover</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.7.14"><span class="content">anything about their future.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.7.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.7.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.7.15"><span class="content">the righteous perishing in their righteousness,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.7.15"><span class="content">and the wicked living long in their wickedness.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.7.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.7.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">Do not be overrighteous,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.7.16"><span class="content">neither be overwise&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.7.16"><span class="content">why destroy yourself?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.7.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.7.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">Do not be overwicked,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.7.17"><span class="content">and do not be a fool&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.7.17"><span class="content">why die before your time?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.7.17"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ECC.7.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">It is good to grasp the one</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ECC.7.18"><span class="content">and not let go of the other.</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ECC.7.18"><span class="content">Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">7:18 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">will follow them both</span></span></span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ECC.7.18"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ECC.7.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">Wisdom makes one wise person more powerful</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ECC.7.19"><span class="content">than ten rulers in a city.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ECC.7.19"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ECC.7.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ECC.7.20"><span class="content">no one who does what is right and never sins.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ECC.7.20"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="ECC.7.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">Do not pay attention to every word people say,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="ECC.7.21"><span class="content">or you may hear your servant cursing you&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="ECC.7.21"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="ECC.7.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">for you know in your heart</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="ECC.7.22"><span class="content">that many times you yourself have cursed others.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="ECC.7.22"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="ECC.7.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">All this I tested by wisdom and I said,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="ECC.7.23"><span class="content">&#8220;I am determined to be wise&#8221;&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="ECC.7.23"><span class="content">but this was beyond me.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="ECC.7.23"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="ECC.7.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">Whatever exists is far off and most profound&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="ECC.7.24"><span class="content">who can discover it?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="ECC.7.24"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="ECC.7.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">So I turned my mind to understand,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="ECC.7.25"><span class="content">to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="ECC.7.25"><span class="content">and to understand the stupidity of wickedness</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="ECC.7.25"><span class="content">and the madness of folly.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="ECC.7.25"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ECC.7.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">I find more bitter than death</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ECC.7.26"><span class="content">the woman who is a snare,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ECC.7.26"><span class="content">whose heart is a trap</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ECC.7.26"><span class="content">and whose hands are chains.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ECC.7.26"><span class="content">The man who pleases God will escape her,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ECC.7.26"><span class="content">but the sinner she will ensnare.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ECC.7.26"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ECC.7.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="content">&#8220;Look,&#8221; says the Teacher,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">7:27 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">the leader of the assembly</span></span></span><span class="content"> &#8220;this is what I have discovered:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ECC.7.27"><span class="content">&#8220;Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ECC.7.27"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="ECC.7.28"><span class="label">28</span><span class="content">while I was still searching</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="ECC.7.28"><span class="content">but not finding&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="ECC.7.28"><span class="content">I found one upright man among a thousand,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="ECC.7.28"><span class="content">but not one upright woman among them all.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="ECC.7.28"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="ECC.7.29"><span class="label">29</span><span class="content">This only have I found:</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="ECC.7.29"><span class="content">God created mankind upright,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="ECC.7.29"><span class="content">but they have gone in search of many schemes.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="b"></div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
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      <div class="chapter ch8" data-usfm="ECC.8">
         <div class="label">8</div><div class="q1"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.8.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Who is like the wise?</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.8.1"><span class="content">Who knows the explanation of things?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.8.1"><span class="content">A person&#8217;s wisdom brightens their face</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.8.1"><span class="content">and changes its hard appearance.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Obey the King</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.8.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.8.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">Obey the king&#8217;s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.8.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Do not be in a hurry to leave the king&#8217;s presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.8.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Since a king&#8217;s word is supreme, who can say to him, &#8220;What are you doing?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.8.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.8.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.8.5"><span class="content">and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.8.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.8.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.8.6"><span class="content">though a person may be weighed down by misery.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.8.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.8.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Since no one knows the future,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.8.7"><span class="content">who can tell someone else what is to come?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.8.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.8.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">As no one has power over the wind to contain it,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.8.8"><span class="content">so</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">8:8 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">over the human spirit to retain it, / and so</span></span></span><span class="content"> no one has power over the time of their death.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.8.8"><span class="content">As no one is discharged in time of war,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.8.8"><span class="content">so wickedness will not release those who practice it.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.8.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.8.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">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</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">8:9 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">to their</span></span></span><span class="content"> hurt. </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.8.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Then too, I saw the wicked buried&#8212;those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">8:10 </span><span class="ft">Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint (Aquila); most Hebrew manuscripts </span><span class="fqa">and are forgotten</span></span></span><span class="content"> in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.8.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.8.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people&#8217;s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.8.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">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. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.8.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.8.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.8.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">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. </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.8.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">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.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.8.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.8.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth&#8212;people getting no sleep day or night&#8212; </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.8.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">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.</span></span></div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
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      <div class="chapter ch9" data-usfm="ECC.9">
         <div class="label">9</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">A Common Destiny for All</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.9.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God&#8217;s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.9.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">All share a common destiny&#8212;the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">9:2 </span><span class="ft">Septuagint (Aquila), Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew does not have </span><span class="fq">and the bad</span><span class="fqa">.</span></span></span><span class="content"> the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.9.2"><span class="content">As it is with the good,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.9.2"><span class="content">so with the sinful;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.9.2"><span class="content">as it is with those who take oaths,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.9.2"><span class="content">so with those who are afraid to take them.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.9.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.9.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">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. </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.9.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Anyone who is among the living has hope</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">9:4 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">What then is to be chosen? With all who live, there is hope</span></span></span><span class="content">&#8212;even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.9.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.9.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">For the living know that they will die,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.9.5"><span class="content">but the dead know nothing;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.9.5"><span class="content">they have no further reward,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.9.5"><span class="content">and even their name is forgotten.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.9.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.9.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Their love, their hate</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.9.6"><span class="content">and their jealousy have long since vanished;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.9.6"><span class="content">never again will they have a part</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.9.6"><span class="content">in anything that happens under the sun.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.9.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.9.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.9.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.9.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun&#8212;all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.9.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">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.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.9.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.9.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">I have seen something else under the sun:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.9.11"><span class="content">The race is not to the swift</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.9.11"><span class="content">or the battle to the strong,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.9.11"><span class="content">nor does food come to the wise</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.9.11"><span class="content">or wealth to the brilliant</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.9.11"><span class="content">or favor to the learned;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.9.11"><span class="content">but time and chance happen to them all.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.9.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.9.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.9.12"><span class="content">As fish are caught in a cruel net,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.9.12"><span class="content">or birds are taken in a snare,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.9.12"><span class="content">so people are trapped by evil times</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.9.12"><span class="content">that fall unexpectedly upon them.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Wisdom Better Than Folly</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.9.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.9.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.9.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">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. </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.9.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">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. </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.9.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">So I said, &#8220;Wisdom is better than strength.&#8221; But the poor man&#8217;s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.9.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.9.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.9.17"><span class="content">than the shouts of a ruler of fools.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.9.17"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ECC.9.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">Wisdom is better than weapons of war,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ECC.9.18"><span class="content">but one sinner destroys much good.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div>
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