Returning Home: A Journey of Grace Through the Parable of the Prodigal Son

Holy, Not Superhuman

Homesick for Heaven

Greatest Journey!

Praying the Psalms

Unapologetically Sold Out: 7 Days of Prayers for Millennials to Live Whole-Heartedly Committed to Jesus Christ

Stormproof

Breath & Blueprint: Your Creative Awakening

Faith in Hard Times

Stop Living in Your Head: Capturing Those Dreams and Making Them a Reality

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

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

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 <div class="book bk2CH">
 <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="2CH.2">
 <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1">Preparations for Building the Temple</div><div class="p"> # In Hebrew texts 2:1 is numbered 1:18, and 2:2-18 is numbered 2:1-17. 1Solomon gave orders to build a temple for the Name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself. 2He conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 as stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 as foremen over them.</div><div class="p"> 3Solomon sent this message to Hiram#2:3 Hebrew Huram, a variant of Hiram also in verses 11 and 12 king of Tyre:</div><div class="pm">&#8220;Send me cedar logs as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in. 4Now I am about to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for setting out the consecrated bread regularly, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel.</div><div class="pm"> 5&#8220;The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods. 6But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?</div><div class="pm"> 7&#8220;Send me, therefore, a man skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, and in purple, crimson and blue yarn, and experienced in the art of engraving, to work in Judah and Jerusalem with my skilled workers, whom my father David provided.</div><div class="pm"> 8&#8220;Send me also cedar, juniper and algum#2:8 Probably a variant of almug logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants are skilled in cutting timber there. My servants will work with yours 9to provide me with plenty of lumber, because the temple I build must be large and magnificent. 10I will give your servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, twenty thousand cors#2:10 That is, probably about 3,600 tons or about 3,200 metric tons of wheat of ground wheat, twenty thousand cors#2:10 That is, probably about 3,000 tons or about 2,700 metric tons of barley of barley, twenty thousand baths#2:10 That is, about 120,000 gallons or about 440,000 liters of wine and twenty thousand baths of olive oil.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon:</div><div class="pm">&#8220;Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you their king.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 12And Hiram added:</div><div class="pm">&#8220;Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, endowed with intelligence and discernment, who will build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself.</div><div class="pm"> 13&#8220;I am sending you Huram-Abi, a man of great skill, 14whose mother was from Dan and whose father was from Tyre. He is trained to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, and with purple and blue and crimson yarn and fine linen. He is experienced in all kinds of engraving and can execute any design given to him. He will work with your skilled workers and with those of my lord, David your father.</div><div class="pm"> 15&#8220;Now let my lord send his servants the wheat and barley and the olive oil and wine he promised, 16and we will cut all the logs from Lebanon that you need and will float them as rafts by sea down to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17Solomon took a census of all the foreigners residing in Israel, after the census his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600. 18He assigned 70,000 of them to be carriers and 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills, with 3,600 foremen over them to keep the people working.</div>
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 <div class="book bk2CH">
 <div class="chapter ch3" data-usfm="2CH.3">
 <div class="label">3</div><div class="s1">Solomon Builds the Temple</div><div class="p"> 1Then Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah#3:1 Hebrew Ornan, a variant of Araunah the Jebusite, the place provided by David. 2He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.</div><div class="p"> 3The foundation Solomon laid for building the temple of God was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide#3:3 That is, about 90 feet long and 30 feet wide or about 27 meters long and 9 meters wide (using the cubit of the old standard). 4The portico at the front of the temple was twenty cubits#3:4 That is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters; also in verses 8, 11 and 13 long across the width of the building and twenty#3:4 Some Septuagint and Syriac manuscripts; Hebrew and a hundred and twenty cubits high.</div><div class="p">He overlaid the inside with pure gold. 5He paneled the main hall with juniper and covered it with fine gold and decorated it with palm tree and chain designs. 6He adorned the temple with precious stones. And the gold he used was gold of Parvaim. 7He overlaid the ceiling beams, doorframes, walls and doors of the temple with gold, and he carved cherubim on the walls.</div><div class="p"> 8He built the Most Holy Place, its length corresponding to the width of the temple&#8212;twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. He overlaid the inside with six hundred talents#3:8 That is, about 23 tons or about 21 metric tons of fine gold. 9The gold nails weighed fifty shekels.#3:9 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams He also overlaid the upper parts with gold.</div><div class="p"> 10For the Most Holy Place he made a pair of sculptured cherubim and overlaid them with gold. 11The total wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits#3:11 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verse 15 long and touched the temple wall, while its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the other cherub. 12Similarly one wing of the second cherub was five cubits long and touched the other temple wall, and its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the first cherub. 13The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, facing the main hall.#3:13 Or facing inward</div><div class="p"> 14He made the curtain of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim worked into it.</div><div class="p"> 15For the front of the temple he made two pillars, which together were thirty-five cubits#3:15 That is, about 53 feet or about 16 meters long, each with a capital five cubits high. 16He made interwoven chains#3:16 Or possibly made chains in the inner sanctuary; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. and put them on top of the pillars. He also made a hundred pomegranates and attached them to the chains. 17He erected the pillars in the front of the temple, one to the south and one to the north. The one to the south he named Jakin#3:17 Jakin probably means he establishes. and the one to the north Boaz.#3:17 Boaz probably means in him is strength.</div>
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 <div class="book bk2CH">
 <div class="chapter ch4" data-usfm="2CH.4">
 <div class="label">4</div><div class="s1">The Temple&#8217;s Furnishings</div><div class="p"> 1He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.#4:1 That is, about 30 feet long and wide and 15 feet high or about 9 meters long and wide and 4.5 meters high 2He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits#4:2 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters high. It took a line of thirty cubits#4:2 That is, about 45 feet or about 14 meters to measure around it. 3Below the rim, figures of bulls encircled it&#8212;ten to a cubit.#4:3 That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters The bulls were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.</div><div class="p"> 4The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. 5It was a handbreadth#4:5 That is, about 3 inches or about 7.5 centimeters in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held three thousand baths.#4:5 That is, about 18,000 gallons or about 66,000 liters</div><div class="p"> 6He then made ten basins for washing and placed five on the south side and five on the north. In them the things to be used for the burnt offerings were rinsed, but the Sea was to be used by the priests for washing.</div><div class="p"> 7He made ten gold lampstands according to the specifications for them and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north.</div><div class="p"> 8He made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold sprinkling bowls.</div><div class="p"> 9He made the courtyard of the priests, and the large court and the doors for the court, and overlaid the doors with bronze. 10He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner.</div><div class="p"> 11And Huram also made the pots and shovels and sprinkling bowls.</div><div class="p">So Huram finished the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of God:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="li1"> 12the two pillars;</div><div class="li1">the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;</div><div class="li1">the two sets of network decorating the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;</div><div class="li1"> 13the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network, decorating the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars);</div><div class="li1"> 14the stands with their basins;</div><div class="li1"> 15the Sea and the twelve bulls under it;</div><div class="li1"> 16the pots, shovels, meat forks and all related articles.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">All the objects that Huram-Abi made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of polished bronze. 17The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkoth and Zarethan.#4:17 Hebrew Zeredatha, a variant of Zarethan 18All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronze could not be calculated.</div><div class="p"> 19Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in God&#8217;s temple:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="li1">the golden altar;</div><div class="li1">the tables on which was the bread of the Presence;</div><div class="li1"> 20the lampstands of pure gold with their lamps, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary as prescribed;</div><div class="li1"> 21the gold floral work and lamps and tongs (they were solid gold);</div><div class="li1"> 22the pure gold wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and censers; and the gold doors of the temple: the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and the doors of the main hall.</div><div class="b"></div>
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 <div class="book bk2CH">
 <div class="chapter ch5" data-usfm="2CH.5">
 <div class="label">5</div><div class="p"> 1When all the work Solomon had done for the temple of the Lord was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated&#8212;the silver and gold and all the furnishings&#8212;and he placed them in the treasuries of God&#8217;s temple.</div><div class="s1">The Ark Brought to the Temple</div><div class="p"> 2Then Solomon summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the Lord&#8217;s covenant from Zion, the City of David. 3And all the Israelites came together to the king at the time of the festival in the seventh month.</div><div class="p"> 4When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the Levites took up the ark, 5and they brought up the ark and the tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The Levitical priests carried them up; 6and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.</div><div class="p"> 7The priests then brought the ark of the Lord&#8217;s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. 8The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and covered the ark and its carrying poles. 9These poles were so long that their ends, extending from the ark, could be seen from in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. 10There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.</div><div class="p"> 11The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. 12All the Levites who were musicians&#8212;Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives&#8212;stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. 13The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;He is good;</div><div class="q2">his love endures forever.&#8221;</div><div class="p">Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud, 14and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.</div>
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 <div class="book bk2CH">
 <div class="chapter ch6" data-usfm="2CH.6">
 <div class="label">6</div><div class="p"> 1Then Solomon said, &#8220;The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; 2I have built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessed them. 4Then he said:</div><div class="pm">&#8220;Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hands has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to my father David. For he said, 5&#8216;Since the day I brought my people out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built so that my Name might be there, nor have I chosen anyone to be ruler over my people Israel. 6But now I have chosen Jerusalem for my Name to be there, and I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.&#8217;</div><div class="pm"> 7&#8220;My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 8But the Lord said to my father David, &#8216;You did well to have it in your heart to build a temple for my Name. 9Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own flesh and blood&#8212;he is the one who will build the temple for my Name.&#8217;</div><div class="pm"> 10&#8220;The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have succeeded David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built the temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 11There I have placed the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with the people of Israel.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Prayer of Dedication</div><div class="p"> 12Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 13Now he had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high,#6:13 That is, about 7 1/2 feet long and wide and 4 1/2 feet high or about 2.3 meters long and wide and 1.4 meters high and had placed it in the center of the outer court. He stood on the platform and then knelt down before the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. 14He said:</div><div class="pm">&#8220;Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth&#8212;you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 15You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it&#8212;as it is today.</div><div class="pm"> 16&#8220;Now, Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, &#8216;You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me according to my law, as you have done.&#8217; 17And now, Lord, the God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David come true.</div><div class="pm"> 18&#8220;But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 19Yet, Lord my God, give attention to your servant&#8217;s prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence. 20May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your Name there. May you hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 21Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.</div><div class="pm"> 22&#8220;When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple, 23then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.</div><div class="pm"> 24&#8220;When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you and when they turn back and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple, 25then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.</div><div class="pm"> 26&#8220;When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 27then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.</div><div class="pm"> 28&#8220;When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 29and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel&#8212;being aware of their afflictions and pains, and spreading out their hands toward this temple&#8212; 30then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive, and deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know the human heart), 31so that they will fear you and walk in obedience to you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.</div><div class="pm"> 32&#8220;As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm&#8212;when they come and pray toward this temple, 33then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.</div><div class="pm"> 34&#8220;When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to you toward this city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, 35then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.</div><div class="pm"> 36&#8220;When they sin against you&#8212;for there is no one who does not sin&#8212;and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near; 37and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity and say, &#8216;We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly&#8217;; 38and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and toward the temple I have built for your Name; 39then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you.</div><div class="pm"> 40&#8220;Now, my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.</div><div class="qm1"> 41&#8220;Now arise, Lord God, and come to your resting place,</div><div class="qm2">you and the ark of your might.</div><div class="qm1">May your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation,</div><div class="qm2">may your faithful people rejoice in your goodness.</div><div class="qm1"> 42 Lord God, do not reject your anointed one.</div><div class="qm2">Remember the great love promised to David your servant.&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2CH">
 <div class="chapter ch7" data-usfm="2CH.7">
 <div class="label">7</div><div class="s1">The Dedication of the Temple</div><div class="p"> 1When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. 3When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;He is good;</div><div class="q2">his love endures forever.&#8221;</div><div class="m"> 4Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. 5And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the people dedicated the temple of God. 6The priests took their positions, as did the Levites with the Lord&#8217;s musical instruments, which King David had made for praising the Lord and which were used when he gave thanks, saying, &#8220;His love endures forever.&#8221; Opposite the Levites, the priests blew their trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing.</div><div class="p"> 7Solomon consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar he had made could not hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat portions.</div><div class="p"> 8So Solomon observed the festival at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him&#8212;a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. 9On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days and the festival for seven days more. 10On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their homes, joyful and glad in heart for the good things the Lord had done for David and Solomon and for his people Israel.</div><div class="s1">The Lord Appears to Solomon</div><div class="p"> 11When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, 12the Lord appeared to him at night and said:</div><div class="pm">&#8220;I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.</div><div class="pm"> 13&#8220;When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.</div><div class="pm"> 17&#8220;As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, 18I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, &#8216;You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.&#8217;</div><div class="pm"> 19&#8220;But if you#7:19 The Hebrew is plural. turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you#7:19 The Hebrew is plural. and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 21This temple will become a heap of rubble. All#7:21 See some Septuagint manuscripts, Old Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Targum; Hebrew And though this temple is now so imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and say, &#8216;Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?&#8217; 22People will answer, &#8216;Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them&#8212;that is why he brought all this disaster on them.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1KI">
 <div class="chapter ch9" data-usfm="1KI.9">
 <div class="label">9</div><div class="s1">The Lord Appears to Solomon</div><div class="p"> 1When Solomon had finished building the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, 2the Lord appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3The Lord said to him:</div><div class="pm">&#8220;I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.</div><div class="pm"> 4&#8220;As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, &#8216;You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.&#8217;</div><div class="pm"> 6&#8220;But if you#9:6 The Hebrew is plural. or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you#9:6 The Hebrew is plural. and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 7then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 8This temple will become a heap of rubble. All#9:8 See some Septuagint manuscripts, Old Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Targum; Hebrew And though this temple is now imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, &#8216;Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?&#8217; 9People will answer, &#8216;Because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them&#8212;that is why the Lord brought all this disaster on them.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Other Activities</div><div class="p"> 10At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two buildings&#8212;the temple of the Lord and the royal palace&#8212; 11King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and juniper and gold he wanted. 12But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. 13&#8220;What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?&#8221; he asked. And he called them the Land of Kabul,#9:13 Kabul sounds like the Hebrew for good-for-nothing. a name they have to this day. 14Now Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents#9:14 That is, about 4 1/2 tons or about 4 metric tons of gold.</div><div class="p"> 15Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted to build the Lord&#8217;s temple, his own palace, the terraces,#9:15 Or the Millo; also in verse 24 the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. 16(Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter, Solomon&#8217;s wife. 17And Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) He built up Lower Beth Horon, 18Baalath, and Tadmor#9:18 The Hebrew may also be read Tamar. in the desert, within his land, 19as well as all his store cities and the towns for his chariots and for his horses#9:19 Or charioteers&#8212;whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.</div><div class="p"> 20There were still people left from the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (these peoples were not Israelites). 21Solomon conscripted the descendants of all these peoples remaining in the land&#8212;whom the Israelites could not exterminate#9:21 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.&#8212;to serve as slave labor, as it is to this day. 22But Solomon did not make slaves of any of the Israelites; they were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and charioteers. 23They were also the chief officials in charge of Solomon&#8217;s projects&#8212;550 officials supervising those who did the work.</div><div class="p"> 24After Pharaoh&#8217;s daughter had come up from the City of David to the palace Solomon had built for her, he constructed the terraces.</div><div class="p"> 25Three times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord, burning incense before the Lord along with them, and so fulfilled the temple obligations.</div><div class="p"> 26King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.#9:26 Or the Sea of Reeds 27And Hiram sent his men&#8212;sailors who knew the sea&#8212;to serve in the fleet with Solomon&#8217;s men. 28They sailed to Ophir and brought back 420 talents#9:28 That is, about 16 tons or about 14 metric tons of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.</div>
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 <div class="label">8</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Other Activities</div><div class="p"> 1At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built the temple of the Lord and his own palace, 2Solomon rebuilt the villages that Hiram#8:2 Hebrew Huram, a variant of Hiram; also in verse 18 had given him, and settled Israelites in them. 3Solomon then went to Hamath Zobah and captured it. 4He also built up Tadmor in the desert and all the store cities he had built in Hamath. 5He rebuilt Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon as fortified cities, with walls and with gates and bars, 6as well as Baalath and all his store cities, and all the cities for his chariots and for his horses#8:6 Or charioteers&#8212;whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.</div><div class="p"> 7There were still people left from the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (these people were not Israelites). 8Solomon conscripted the descendants of all these people remaining in the land&#8212;whom the Israelites had not destroyed&#8212;to serve as slave labor, as it is to this day. 9But Solomon did not make slaves of the Israelites for his work; they were his fighting men, commanders of his captains, and commanders of his chariots and charioteers. 10They were also King Solomon&#8217;s chief officials&#8212;two hundred and fifty officials supervising the men.</div><div class="p"> 11Solomon brought Pharaoh&#8217;s daughter up from the City of David to the palace he had built for her, for he said, &#8220;My wife must not live in the palace of David king of Israel, because the places the ark of the Lord has entered are holy.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 12On the altar of the Lord that he had built in front of the portico, Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord, 13according to the daily requirement for offerings commanded by Moses for the Sabbaths, the New Moons and the three annual festivals&#8212;the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. 14In keeping with the ordinance of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their duties, and the Levites to lead the praise and to assist the priests according to each day&#8217;s requirement. He also appointed the gatekeepers by divisions for the various gates, because this was what David the man of God had ordered. 15They did not deviate from the king&#8217;s commands to the priests or to the Levites in any matter, including that of the treasuries.</div><div class="p"> 16All Solomon&#8217;s work was carried out, from the day the foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid until its completion. So the temple of the Lord was finished.</div><div class="p"> 17Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and Elath on the coast of Edom. 18And Hiram sent him ships commanded by his own men, sailors who knew the sea. These, with Solomon&#8217;s men, sailed to Ophir and brought back four hundred and fifty talents#8:18 That is, about 17 tons or about 15 metric tons of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.</div>
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 <div class="label">10</div><div class="s1">The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon</div><div class="p"> 1When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord, she came to test Solomon with hard questions. 2Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan&#8212;with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones&#8212;she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind. 3Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. 4When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, 5the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at#10:5 Or the ascent by which he went up to the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.</div><div class="p"> 6She said to the king, &#8220;The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. 7But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard. 8How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 9Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord&#8217;s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10And she gave the king 120 talents#10:10 That is, about 4 1/2 tons or about 4 metric tons of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.</div><div class="p"> 11(Hiram&#8217;s ships brought gold from Ophir; and from there they brought great cargoes of almugwood#10:11 Probably a variant of algumwood; also in verse 12 and precious stones. 12The king used the almugwood to make supports#10:12 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. for the temple of the Lord and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. So much almugwood has never been imported or seen since that day.)</div><div class="p"> 13King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for, besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Splendor</div><div class="p"> 14The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,#10:14 That is, about 25 tons or about 23 metric tons 15not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the territories.</div><div class="p"> 16King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels#10:16 That is, about 15 pounds or about 6.9 kilograms; also in verse 29 of gold went into each shield. 17He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas#10:17 That is, about 3 3/4 pounds or about 1.7 kilograms; or perhaps reference is to double minas, that is, about 7 1/2 pounds or about 3.5 kilograms. of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.</div><div class="p"> 18Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. 19The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 20Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. 21All King Solomon&#8217;s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon&#8217;s days. 22The king had a fleet of trading ships#10:22 Hebrew of ships of Tarshish at sea along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.</div><div class="p"> 23King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. 24The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. 25Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift&#8212;articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.</div><div class="p"> 26Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses,#10:26 Or charioteers which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 27The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. 28Solomon&#8217;s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue#10:28 Probably Cilicia&#8212;the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. 29They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty.#10:29 That is, about 3 3/4 pounds or about 1.7 kilograms They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.</div>
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 <div class="chapter ch9" data-usfm="2CH.9">
 <div class="label">9</div><div class="s1">The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon</div><div class="p"> 1When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon&#8217;s fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. Arriving with a very great caravan&#8212;with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones&#8212;she came to Solomon and talked with him about all she had on her mind. 2Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for him to explain to her. 3When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, as well as the palace he had built, 4the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, the cupbearers in their robes and the burnt offerings he made at#9:4 Or and the ascent by which he went up to the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.</div><div class="p"> 5She said to the king, &#8220;The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. 6But I did not believe what they said until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard. 7How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 8Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on his throne as king to rule for the Lord your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and his desire to uphold them forever, he has made you king over them, to maintain justice and righteousness.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 9Then she gave the king 120 talents#9:9 That is, about 4 1/2 tons or about 4 metric tons of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. There had never been such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.</div><div class="p"> 10(The servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon brought gold from Ophir; they also brought algumwood#9:10 Probably a variant of almugwood and precious stones. 11The king used the algumwood to make steps for the temple of the Lord and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. Nothing like them had ever been seen in Judah.)</div><div class="p"> 12King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for; he gave her more than she had brought to him. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Splendor</div><div class="p"> 13The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,#9:13 That is, about 25 tons or about 23 metric tons 14not including the revenues brought in by merchants and traders. Also all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the territories brought gold and silver to Solomon.</div><div class="p"> 15King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels#9:15 That is, about 15 pounds or about 6.9 kilograms of hammered gold went into each shield. 16He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three hundred shekels#9:16 That is, about 7 1/2 pounds or about 3.5 kilograms of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.</div><div class="p"> 17Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with pure gold. 18The throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was attached to it. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 19Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. 20All King Solomon&#8217;s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon&#8217;s day. 21The king had a fleet of trading ships#9:21 Hebrew of ships that could go to Tarshish manned by Hiram&#8217;s#9:21 Hebrew Huram, a variant of Hiram servants. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.</div><div class="p"> 22King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. 23All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. 24Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift&#8212;articles of silver and gold, and robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.</div><div class="p"> 25Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horses,#9:25 Or charioteers which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 26He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. 27The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. 28Solomon&#8217;s horses were imported from Egypt and from all other countries.</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Death</div><div class="p"> 29As for the other events of Solomon&#8217;s reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat? 30Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31Then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.</div>
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 <div class="label">1</div><div class="s1">Everything Is Meaningless</div><div class="p"> 1The words of the Teacher,#1:1 Or the leader of the assembly; also in verses 2 and 12 son of David, king in Jerusalem:</div><div class="q1"> 2&#8220;Meaningless! Meaningless!&#8221;</div><div class="q2">says the Teacher.</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Utterly meaningless!</div><div class="q2">Everything is meaningless.&#8221;</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 3What do people gain from all their labors</div><div class="q2">at which they toil under the sun?</div><div class="q1"> 4Generations come and generations go,</div><div class="q2">but the earth remains forever.</div><div class="q1"> 5The sun rises and the sun sets,</div><div class="q2">and hurries back to where it rises.</div><div class="q1"> 6The wind blows to the south</div><div class="q2">and turns to the north;</div><div class="q1">round and round it goes,</div><div class="q2">ever returning on its course.</div><div class="q1"> 7All streams flow into the sea,</div><div class="q2">yet the sea is never full.</div><div class="q1">To the place the streams come from,</div><div class="q2">there they return again.</div><div class="q1"> 8All things are wearisome,</div><div class="q2">more than one can say.</div><div class="q1">The eye never has enough of seeing,</div><div class="q2">nor the ear its fill of hearing.</div><div class="q1"> 9What has been will be again,</div><div class="q2">what has been done will be done again;</div><div class="q2">there is nothing new under the sun.</div><div class="q1"> 10Is there anything of which one can say,</div><div class="q2">&#8220;Look! This is something new&#8221;?</div><div class="q1">It was here already, long ago;</div><div class="q2">it was here before our time.</div><div class="q1"> 11No one remembers the former generations,</div><div class="q2">and even those yet to come</div><div class="q1">will not be remembered</div><div class="q2">by those who follow them.</div><div class="s1">Wisdom Is Meaningless</div><div class="p"> 12I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! 14I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.</div><div class="q1"> 15What is crooked cannot be straightened;</div><div class="q2">what is lacking cannot be counted.</div><div class="p"> 16I said to myself, &#8220;Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.&#8221; 17Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.</div><div class="q1"> 18For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;</div><div class="q2">the more knowledge, the more grief.</div>
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 <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1">Pleasures Are Meaningless</div><div class="p"> 1I said to myself, &#8220;Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.&#8221; But that also proved to be meaningless. 2&#8220;Laughter,&#8221; I said, &#8220;is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?&#8221; 3I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly&#8212;my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.</div><div class="p"> 4I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem#2:8 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. as well&#8212;the delights of a man&#8217;s heart. 9I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.</div><div class="q1"> 10I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;</div><div class="q2">I refused my heart no pleasure.</div><div class="q1">My heart took delight in all my labor,</div><div class="q2">and this was the reward for all my toil.</div><div class="q1"> 11Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done</div><div class="q2">and what I had toiled to achieve,</div><div class="q1">everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;</div><div class="q2">nothing was gained under the sun.</div><div class="s1">Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless</div><div class="q1"> 12Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,</div><div class="q2">and also madness and folly.</div><div class="q1">What more can the king&#8217;s successor do</div><div class="q2">than what has already been done?</div><div class="q1"> 13I saw that wisdom is better than folly,</div><div class="q2">just as light is better than darkness.</div><div class="q1"> 14The wise have eyes in their heads,</div><div class="q2">while the fool walks in the darkness;</div><div class="q1">but I came to realize</div><div class="q2">that the same fate overtakes them both.</div><div class="p"> 15Then I said to myself,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;The fate of the fool will overtake me also.</div><div class="q2">What then do I gain by being wise?&#8221;</div><div class="q1">I said to myself,</div><div class="q2">&#8220;This too is meaningless.&#8221;</div><div class="q1"> 16For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;</div><div class="q2">the days have already come when both have been forgotten.</div><div class="q1">Like the fool, the wise too must die!</div><div class="s1">Toil Is Meaningless</div><div class="p"> 17So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? 23All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.</div><div class="p"> 24A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.</div>
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 <div class="label">3</div><div class="s1">A Time for Everything</div><div class="q1"> 1There is a time for everything,</div><div class="q2">and a season for every activity under the heavens:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q2"> 2a time to be born and a time to die,</div><div class="q2">a time to plant and a time to uproot,</div><div class="q2"> 3a time to kill and a time to heal,</div><div class="q2">a time to tear down and a time to build,</div><div class="q2"> 4a time to weep and a time to laugh,</div><div class="q2">a time to mourn and a time to dance,</div><div class="q2"> 5a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,</div><div class="q2">a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,</div><div class="q2"> 6a time to search and a time to give up,</div><div class="q2">a time to keep and a time to throw away,</div><div class="q2"> 7a time to tear and a time to mend,</div><div class="q2">a time to be silent and a time to speak,</div><div class="q2"> 8a time to love and a time to hate,</div><div class="q2">a time for war and a time for peace.</div><div class="p"> 9What do workers gain from their toil? 10I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet#3:11 Or also placed ignorance in the human heart, so that no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil&#8212;this is the gift of God. 14I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.</div><div class="q1"> 15Whatever is has already been,</div><div class="q2">and what will be has been before;</div><div class="q2">and God will call the past to account.#3:15 Or God calls back the past</div><div class="p"> 16And I saw something else under the sun:</div><div class="q1">In the place of judgment&#8212;wickedness was there,</div><div class="q2">in the place of justice&#8212;wickedness was there.</div><div class="p"> 17I said to myself,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;God will bring into judgment</div><div class="q2">both the righteous and the wicked,</div><div class="q1">for there will be a time for every activity,</div><div class="q2">a time to judge every deed.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 18I also said to myself, &#8220;As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath#3:19 Or spirit; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. 20All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 22So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?</div>
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 <div class="book bkECC">
 <div class="chapter ch4" data-usfm="ECC.4">
 <div class="label">4</div><div class="s1">Oppression, Toil, Friendlessness</div><div class="p"> 1Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:</div><div class="q1">I saw the tears of the oppressed&#8212;</div><div class="q2">and they have no comforter;</div><div class="q1">power was on the side of their oppressors&#8212;</div><div class="q2">and they have no comforter.</div><div class="q1"> 2And I declared that the dead,</div><div class="q2">who had already died,</div><div class="q1">are happier than the living,</div><div class="q2">who are still alive.</div><div class="q1"> 3But better than both</div><div class="q2">is the one who has never been born,</div><div class="q1">who has not seen the evil</div><div class="q2">that is done under the sun.</div><div class="p"> 4And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person&#8217;s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.</div><div class="q1"> 5Fools fold their hands</div><div class="q2">and ruin themselves.</div><div class="q1"> 6Better one handful with tranquillity</div><div class="q2">than two handfuls with toil</div><div class="q2">and chasing after the wind.</div><div class="p"> 7Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:</div><div class="q1"> 8There was a man all alone;</div><div class="q2">he had neither son nor brother.</div><div class="q1">There was no end to his toil,</div><div class="q2">yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.</div><div class="q1">&#8220;For whom am I toiling,&#8221; he asked,</div><div class="q2">&#8220;and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?&#8221;</div><div class="q1">This too is meaningless&#8212;</div><div class="q2">a miserable business!</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 9Two are better than one,</div><div class="q2">because they have a good return for their labor:</div><div class="q1"> 10If either of them falls down,</div><div class="q2">one can help the other up.</div><div class="q1">But pity anyone who falls</div><div class="q2">and has no one to help them up.</div><div class="q1"> 11Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.</div><div class="q2">But how can one keep warm alone?</div><div class="q1"> 12Though one may be overpowered,</div><div class="q2">two can defend themselves.</div><div class="q1">A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.</div><div class="s1">Advancement Is Meaningless</div><div class="p"> 13Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning. 14The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom. 15I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king&#8217;s successor. 16There was no end to all the people who were before them. But those who came later were not pleased with the successor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.</div>
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