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ECCLESIASTES 1-3

« Proverbs 31 | Ecclesiastes 1-3 | Ecclesiastes 4 »

All Is Vanity
  1:1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
3
What does man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?
4
A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
5
The sun rises, and the sun goes down,
and hastens to the place where it rises.
6
The wind blows to the south
and goes around to the north;
around and around goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.
7
All streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
8
All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
9
What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
10
Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been already
in the ages before us.
11
There is no remembrance of former things,
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things yet to be
among those who come after.
The Vanity of Wisdom
12 I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
15
What is crooked cannot be made straight,
and what is lacking cannot be counted.

    
16 I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
18
For in much wisdom is much vexation,
and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
The Vanity of Self-Indulgence
  2:1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. 2 I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” 3 I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. 4 I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. 5 I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man.
    
9 So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. 10 And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. 11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. The Vanity of Living Wisely
12 So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. 13 Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. 14 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. 15 Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. 16 For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! 17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind. The Vanity of Toil
18 I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, 19 and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 20 So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21 because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? 23 For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.
    
24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, 25 for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. A Time for Everything
  3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
The God-Given Task
9 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.
    
14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away. From Dust to Dust
16 Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. 17 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work. 18 I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. 19 For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. 20 All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? 22 So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?



PSALM 45

« Psalm 44 | Psalm 45 | Psalm 46 »

Your Throne, O God, Is Forever
To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah; a love song.
45:1
My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;
I address my verses to the king;
my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.

2
You are the most handsome of the sons of men;
grace is poured upon your lips;
therefore God has blessed you forever.
3
Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,
in your splendor and majesty!

4
In your majesty ride out victoriously
for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;
let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!
5
Your arrows are sharp
in the heart of the king’s enemies;
the peoples fall under you.

6
Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
7
you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
8
your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
9
daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;
at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

10
Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear:
forget your people and your father’s house,
11
and the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your lord, bow to him.
12
The people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts,
the richest of the people.

13
All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold.
14
In many-colored robes she is led to the king,
with her virgin companions following behind her.
15
With joy and gladness they are led along
as they enter the palace of the king.

16
In place of your fathers shall be your sons;
you will make them princes in all the earth.
17
I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;
therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.



PSALM 2

« Psalm 1 | Psalm 2 | Psalm 3 »

The Reign of the Lord’s Anointed
2:1
Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
2
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
3
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”

4
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
5
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6
“As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”

7
I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
8
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9
You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

10
Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11
Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

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Show me 2 Timothy 1



1 TIMOTHY 1

« 2 Thessalonians 3 | 1 Timothy 1 | 1 Timothy 2 »

Greeting
  1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,
    
2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith:
    
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Warning Against False Teachers
3 As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. 5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.
    
8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted. Christ Jesus Came to Save Sinners
12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
    
18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

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