Does the Devil Know Your Name? A 10-Day Brave Coaches Journey

Freedom in Christ

Light Has Come

How to Practice Gratitude in the Midst of Waiting by Wycliffe Bible Translators

A Christian Christmas

Hidden: A Devotional for Teen Girls

The Advent of HOPE and the Object of Our Faith.

Grace With a Taste of Cinnamon

Decide to Be Bold: A 10-Day Brave Coaches Journey

The Invitation of Christmas

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 ch1" data-usfm="ECC.1">
         <div class="label">1</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Everything Is Meaningless</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.1.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">The words of the Teacher,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">1:1 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">the leader of the assembly</span><span class="ft">; also in verses 2 and 12</span></span></span><span class="content"> son of David, king in Jerusalem:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.1.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.1.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">&#8220;Meaningless! Meaningless!&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.1.2"><span class="content">says the Teacher.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.1.2"><span class="content">&#8220;Utterly meaningless!</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.1.2"><span class="content">Everything is meaningless.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.1.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.1.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">What do people gain from all their labors</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.1.3"><span class="content">at which they toil under the sun?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.1.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.1.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Generations come and generations go,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.1.4"><span class="content">but the earth remains forever.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.1.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.1.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">The sun rises and the sun sets,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.1.5"><span class="content">and hurries back to where it rises.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.1.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.1.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">The wind blows to the south</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.1.6"><span class="content">and turns to the north;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.1.6"><span class="content">round and round it goes,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.1.6"><span class="content">ever returning on its course.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.1.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.1.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">All streams flow into the sea,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.1.7"><span class="content">yet the sea is never full.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.1.7"><span class="content">To the place the streams come from,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.1.7"><span class="content">there they return again.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.1.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.1.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">All things are wearisome,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.1.8"><span class="content">more than one can say.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.1.8"><span class="content">The eye never has enough of seeing,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.1.8"><span class="content">nor the ear its fill of hearing.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.1.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.1.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">What has been will be again,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.1.9"><span class="content">what has been done will be done again;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.1.9"><span class="content">there is nothing new under the sun.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.1.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.1.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Is there anything of which one can say,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.1.10"><span class="content">&#8220;Look! This is something new&#8221;?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.1.10"><span class="content">It was here already, long ago;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.1.10"><span class="content">it was here before our time.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.1.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.1.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">No one remembers the former generations,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.1.11"><span class="content">and even those yet to come</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.1.11"><span class="content">will not be remembered</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.1.11"><span class="content">by those who follow them.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Wisdom Is Meaningless</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.1.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.1.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.1.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">I 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! </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.1.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.1.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.1.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">What is crooked cannot be straightened;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.1.15"><span class="content">what is lacking cannot be counted.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.1.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.1.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">I 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; </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.1.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">Then 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.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.1.17"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ECC.1.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ECC.1.18"><span class="content">the more knowledge, the more grief.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkECC">
      <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="ECC.2">
         <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Pleasures Are Meaningless</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.2.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">I 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. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.2.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">&#8220;Laughter,&#8221; I said, &#8220;is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.2.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">I 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.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.2.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.2.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.2.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.2.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.2.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">I 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. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.2.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">2:8 </span><span class="ft">The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.</span></span></span><span class="content"> as well&#8212;the delights of a man&#8217;s heart. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.2.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.2.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.2.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.2.10"><span class="content">I refused my heart no pleasure.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.2.10"><span class="content">My heart took delight in all my labor,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.2.10"><span class="content">and this was the reward for all my toil.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.2.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.2.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.2.11"><span class="content">and what I had toiled to achieve,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.2.11"><span class="content">everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.2.11"><span class="content">nothing was gained under the sun.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.2.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.2.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.2.12"><span class="content">and also madness and folly.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.2.12"><span class="content">What more can the king&#8217;s successor do</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.2.12"><span class="content">than what has already been done?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.2.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.2.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">I saw that wisdom is better than folly,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.2.13"><span class="content">just as light is better than darkness.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.2.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.2.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">The wise have eyes in their heads,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.2.14"><span class="content">while the fool walks in the darkness;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.2.14"><span class="content">but I came to realize</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.2.14"><span class="content">that the same fate overtakes them both.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.2.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.2.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">Then I said to myself,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.2.15"><span class="content">&#8220;The fate of the fool will overtake me also.</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.2.15"><span class="content">What then do I gain by being wise?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.2.15"><span class="content">I said to myself,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.2.15"><span class="content">&#8220;This too is meaningless.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.2.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.2.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.2.16"><span class="content">the days have already come when both have been forgotten.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.2.16"><span class="content">Like the fool, the wise too must die!</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Toil Is Meaningless</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.2.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.2.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">So 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. </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ECC.2.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ECC.2.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">And 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. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ECC.2.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="ECC.2.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">For 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. </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="ECC.2.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="ECC.2.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="ECC.2.23"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="ECC.2.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">A 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, </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="ECC.2.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ECC.2.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">To 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.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkECC">
      <div class="chapter ch3" data-usfm="ECC.3">
         <div class="label">3</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">A Time for Everything</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.3.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">There is a time for everything,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.3.1"><span class="content">and a season for every activity under the heavens:</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.3.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.3.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">a time to be born and a time to die,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.3.2"><span class="content">a time to plant and a time to uproot,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.3.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.3.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">a time to kill and a time to heal,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.3.3"><span class="content">a time to tear down and a time to build,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.3.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.3.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">a time to weep and a time to laugh,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.3.4"><span class="content">a time to mourn and a time to dance,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.3.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.3.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.3.5"><span class="content">a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.3.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.3.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">a time to search and a time to give up,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.3.6"><span class="content">a time to keep and a time to throw away,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.3.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.3.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">a time to tear and a time to mend,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.3.7"><span class="content">a time to be silent and a time to speak,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.3.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.3.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">a time to love and a time to hate,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.3.8"><span class="content">a time for war and a time for peace.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.3.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.3.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">What do workers gain from their toil? </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.3.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.3.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">3:11 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">also placed ignorance in the human heart, so that</span></span></span><span class="content"> no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.3.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.3.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil&#8212;this is the gift of God. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.3.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">I 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.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.3.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.3.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">Whatever is has already been,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.3.15"><span class="content">and what will be has been before;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.3.15"><span class="content">and God will call the past to account.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">3:15 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">God calls back the past</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.3.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.3.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">And I saw something else under the sun:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.3.16"><span class="content">In the place of judgment&#8212;wickedness was there,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.3.16"><span class="content">in the place of justice&#8212;wickedness was there.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.3.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.3.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">I said to myself,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.3.17"><span class="content">&#8220;God will bring into judgment</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.3.17"><span class="content">both the righteous and the wicked,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.3.17"><span class="content">for there will be a time for every activity,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.3.17"><span class="content">a time to judge every deed.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.3.17"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ECC.3.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">I also said to myself, &#8220;As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ECC.3.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">Surely 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</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">3:19 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">spirit</span></span></span><span class="content">; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ECC.3.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="ECC.3.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="ECC.3.21"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="ECC.3.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">So 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?</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkECC">
      <div class="chapter ch4" data-usfm="ECC.4">
         <div class="label">4</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Oppression, Toil, Friendlessness</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.4.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.4.1"><span class="content">I saw the tears of the oppressed&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.4.1"><span class="content">and they have no comforter;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.4.1"><span class="content">power was on the side of their oppressors&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.4.1"><span class="content">and they have no comforter.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.4.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.4.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">And I declared that the dead,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.4.2"><span class="content">who had already died,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.4.2"><span class="content">are happier than the living,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.4.2"><span class="content">who are still alive.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.4.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.4.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">But better than both</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.4.3"><span class="content">is the one who has never been born,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.4.3"><span class="content">who has not seen the evil</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.4.3"><span class="content">that is done under the sun.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.4.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.4.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">And 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.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.4.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.4.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Fools fold their hands</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.4.5"><span class="content">and ruin themselves.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.4.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.4.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Better one handful with tranquillity</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.4.6"><span class="content">than two handfuls with toil</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.4.6"><span class="content">and chasing after the wind.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.4.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.4.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.4.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.4.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">There was a man all alone;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.4.8"><span class="content">he had neither son nor brother.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.4.8"><span class="content">There was no end to his toil,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.4.8"><span class="content">yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.4.8"><span class="content">&#8220;For whom am I toiling,&#8221; he asked,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.4.8"><span class="content">&#8220;and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.4.8"><span class="content">This too is meaningless&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.4.8"><span class="content">a miserable business!</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.4.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.4.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Two are better than one,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.4.9"><span class="content">because they have a good return for their labor:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.4.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.4.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">If either of them falls down,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.4.10"><span class="content">one can help the other up.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.4.10"><span class="content">But pity anyone who falls</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.4.10"><span class="content">and has no one to help them up.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.4.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.4.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.4.11"><span class="content">But how can one keep warm alone?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.4.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.4.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Though one may be overpowered,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.4.12"><span class="content">two can defend themselves.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.4.12"><span class="content">A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Advancement Is Meaningless</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.4.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.4.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.4.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom. </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.4.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king&#8217;s successor. </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.4.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">There 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.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkECC">
      <div class="chapter ch5" data-usfm="ECC.5">
         <div class="label">5</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Fulfill Your Vow to God</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">  </span><span class="ft">In Hebrew texts 5:1 is numbered 4:17, and 5:2-20 is numbered 5:1-19.</span><span class="ft">  </span></span></span><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.5.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.5.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.5.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">Do not be quick with your mouth,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.5.2"><span class="content">do not be hasty in your heart</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.5.2"><span class="content">to utter anything before God.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.5.2"><span class="content">God is in heaven</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.5.2"><span class="content">and you are on earth,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.5.2"><span class="content">so let your words be few.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.5.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.5.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">A dream comes when there are many cares,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.5.3"><span class="content">and many words mark the speech of a fool.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.5.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.5.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.5.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.5.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, &#8220;My vow was a mistake.&#8221; Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.5.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Riches Are Meaningless</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.5.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.5.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.5.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.5.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.5.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Whoever loves money never has enough;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.5.10"><span class="content">whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.5.10"><span class="content">This too is meaningless.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.5.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.5.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">As goods increase,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.5.11"><span class="content">so do those who consume them.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.5.11"><span class="content">And what benefit are they to the owners</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.5.11"><span class="content">except to feast their eyes on them?</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.5.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.5.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">The sleep of a laborer is sweet,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.5.12"><span class="content">whether they eat little or much,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.5.12"><span class="content">but as for the rich, their abundance</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.5.12"><span class="content">permits them no sleep.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.5.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.5.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.5.13"><span class="content">wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.5.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.5.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">or wealth lost through some misfortune,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.5.14"><span class="content">so that when they have children</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.5.14"><span class="content">there is nothing left for them to inherit.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.5.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.5.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">Everyone comes naked from their mother&#8217;s womb,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.5.15"><span class="content">and as everyone comes, so they depart.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.5.15"><span class="content">They take nothing from their toil</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.5.15"><span class="content">that they can carry in their hands.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.5.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.5.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">This too is a grievous evil:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.5.16"><span class="content">As everyone comes, so they depart,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.5.16"><span class="content">and what do they gain,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.5.16"><span class="content">since they toil for the wind?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.5.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.5.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">All their days they eat in darkness,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.5.17"><span class="content">with great frustration, affliction and anger.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.5.17"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ECC.5.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them&#8212;for this is their lot. </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ECC.5.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil&#8212;this is a gift of God. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ECC.5.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkECC">
      <div class="chapter ch6" data-usfm="ECC.6">
         <div class="label">6</div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.6.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.6.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.6.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.6.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.6.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.6.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man&#8212; </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.6.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.6.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.6.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Everyone&#8217;s toil is for their mouth,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.6.7"><span class="content">yet their appetite is never satisfied.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.6.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.6.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">What advantage have the wise over fools?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.6.8"><span class="content">What do the poor gain</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.6.8"><span class="content">by knowing how to conduct themselves before others?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.6.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.6.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Better what the eye sees</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.6.9"><span class="content">than the roving of the appetite.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.6.9"><span class="content">This too is meaningless,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.6.9"><span class="content">a chasing after the wind.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.6.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.6.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Whatever exists has already been named,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.6.10"><span class="content">and what humanity is has been known;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.6.10"><span class="content">no one can contend</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.6.10"><span class="content">with someone who is stronger.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.6.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.6.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">The more the words,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.6.11"><span class="content">the less the meaning,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.6.11"><span class="content">and how does that profit anyone?</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.6.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.6.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<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>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkECC">
      <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>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkECC">
      <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>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkECC">
      <div class="chapter ch10" data-usfm="ECC.10">
         <div class="label">10</div><div class="q1"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.10.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.10.1"><span class="content">so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.10.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.10.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">The heart of the wise inclines to the right,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.10.2"><span class="content">but the heart of the fool to the left.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.10.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.10.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Even as fools walk along the road,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.10.3"><span class="content">they lack sense</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.10.3"><span class="content">and show everyone how stupid they are.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.10.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.10.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">If a ruler&#8217;s anger rises against you,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.10.4"><span class="content">do not leave your post;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.10.4"><span class="content">calmness can lay great offenses to rest.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.10.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.10.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">There is an evil I have seen under the sun,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.10.5"><span class="content">the sort of error that arises from a ruler:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.10.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.10.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Fools are put in many high positions,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.10.6"><span class="content">while the rich occupy the low ones.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.10.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.10.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">I have seen slaves on horseback,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.10.7"><span class="content">while princes go on foot like slaves.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.10.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.10.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">Whoever digs a pit may fall into it;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.10.8"><span class="content">whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.10.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.10.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.10.9"><span class="content">whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.10.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.10.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">If the ax is dull</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.10.10"><span class="content">and its edge unsharpened,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.10.10"><span class="content">more strength is needed,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.10.10"><span class="content">but skill will bring success.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.10.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.10.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">If a snake bites before it is charmed,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.10.11"><span class="content">the charmer receives no fee.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.10.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.10.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.10.12"><span class="content">but fools are consumed by their own lips.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.10.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.10.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">At the beginning their words are folly;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.10.13"><span class="content">at the end they are wicked madness&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.10.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.10.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">and fools multiply words.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.10.14"><span class="content">No one knows what is coming&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.10.14"><span class="content">who can tell someone else what will happen after them?</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.10.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.10.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">The toil of fools wearies them;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.10.15"><span class="content">they do not know the way to town.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.10.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.10.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">Woe to the land whose king was a servant</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">10:16 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">king is a child</span></span></span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.10.16"><span class="content">and whose princes feast in the morning.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.10.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.10.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.10.17"><span class="content">and whose princes eat at a proper time&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.10.17"><span class="content">for strength and not for drunkenness.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.10.17"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ECC.10.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">Through laziness, the rafters sag;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ECC.10.18"><span class="content">because of idle hands, the house leaks.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ECC.10.18"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ECC.10.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">A feast is made for laughter,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ECC.10.19"><span class="content">wine makes life merry,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ECC.10.19"><span class="content">and money is the answer for everything.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ECC.10.19"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ECC.10.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">Do not revile the king even in your thoughts,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ECC.10.20"><span class="content">or curse the rich in your bedroom,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ECC.10.20"><span class="content">because a bird in the sky may carry your words,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ECC.10.20"><span class="content">and a bird on the wing may report what you say.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkECC">
      <div class="chapter ch11" data-usfm="ECC.11">
         <div class="label">11</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Invest in Many Ventures</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.11.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Ship your grain across the sea;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.11.1"><span class="content">after many days you may receive a return.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.11.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.11.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.11.2"><span class="content">you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.11.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.11.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">If clouds are full of water,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.11.3"><span class="content">they pour rain on the earth.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.11.3"><span class="content">Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.11.3"><span class="content">in the place where it falls, there it will lie.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.11.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.11.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Whoever watches the wind will not plant;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.11.4"><span class="content">whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.11.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.11.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">As you do not know the path of the wind,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.11.5"><span class="content">or how the body is formed</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">11:5 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">know how life </span><span class="ft">(or </span><span class="fqa">the spirit</span><span class="ft">) / </span><span class="fqa">enters the body being formed</span></span></span><span class="content"> in a mother&#8217;s womb,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.11.5"><span class="content">so you cannot understand the work of God,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.11.5"><span class="content">the Maker of all things.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.11.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.11.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Sow your seed in the morning,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.11.6"><span class="content">and at evening let your hands not be idle,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.11.6"><span class="content">for you do not know which will succeed,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.11.6"><span class="content">whether this or that,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.11.6"><span class="content">or whether both will do equally well.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Remember Your Creator While Young</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.11.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.11.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Light is sweet,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.11.7"><span class="content">and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.11.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.11.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">However many years anyone may live,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.11.8"><span class="content">let them enjoy them all.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.11.8"><span class="content">But let them remember the days of darkness,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.11.8"><span class="content">for there will be many.</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.11.8"><span class="content">Everything to come is meaningless.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.11.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.11.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">You who are young, be happy while you are young,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.11.9"><span class="content">and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.11.9"><span class="content">Follow the ways of your heart</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.11.9"><span class="content">and whatever your eyes see,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.11.9"><span class="content">but know that for all these things</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.11.9"><span class="content">God will bring you into judgment.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.11.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.11.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">So then, banish anxiety from your heart</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.11.10"><span class="content">and cast off the troubles of your body,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.11.10"><span class="content">for youth and vigor are meaningless.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkECC">
      <div class="chapter ch12" data-usfm="ECC.12">
         <div class="label">12</div><div class="q1"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.12.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Remember your Creator</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.12.1"><span class="content">in the days of your youth,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.12.1"><span class="content">before the days of trouble come</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.12.1"><span class="content">and the years approach when you will say,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.12.1"><span class="content">&#8220;I find no pleasure in them&#8221;&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.12.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.12.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">before the sun and the light</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.12.2"><span class="content">and the moon and the stars grow dark,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.12.2"><span class="content">and the clouds return after the rain;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.12.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.12.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">when the keepers of the house tremble,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.12.3"><span class="content">and the strong men stoop,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.12.3"><span class="content">when the grinders cease because they are few,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.12.3"><span class="content">and those looking through the windows grow dim;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.12.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.12.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">when the doors to the street are closed</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.12.4"><span class="content">and the sound of grinding fades;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.12.4"><span class="content">when people rise up at the sound of birds,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.12.4"><span class="content">but all their songs grow faint;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.12.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.12.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">when people are afraid of heights</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.12.5"><span class="content">and of dangers in the streets;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.12.5"><span class="content">when the almond tree blossoms</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.12.5"><span class="content">and the grasshopper drags itself along</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.12.5"><span class="content">and desire no longer is stirred.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.12.5"><span class="content">Then people go to their eternal home</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.12.5"><span class="content">and mourners go about the streets.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.12.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.12.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Remember him&#8212;before the silver cord is severed,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.12.6"><span class="content">and the golden bowl is broken;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.12.6"><span class="content">before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.12.6"><span class="content">and the wheel broken at the well,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.12.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.12.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">and the dust returns to the ground it came from,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.12.7"><span class="content">and the spirit returns to God who gave it.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.12.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.12.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">&#8220;Meaningless! Meaningless!&#8221; says the Teacher.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">12:8 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">the leader of the assembly</span><span class="ft">; also in verses 9 and 10</span></span></span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.12.8"><span class="content">&#8220;Everything is meaningless!&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Conclusion of the Matter</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.12.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.12.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.12.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.12.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.12.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails&#8212;given by one shepherd.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">12:11 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">Shepherd</span></span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.12.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.12.12"><span class="content">Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.12.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.12.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">Now all has been heard;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.12.13"><span class="content">here is the conclusion of the matter:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.12.13"><span class="content">Fear God and keep his commandments,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.12.13"><span class="content">for this is the duty of all mankind.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.12.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.12.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">For God will bring every deed into judgment,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.12.14"><span class="content">including every hidden thing,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.12.14"><span class="content">whether it is good or evil.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

Journey Through Proverbs, Ecclesiastes & JobSample

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