Ecclesiastes 1 Cross References - MSB

¹ These are the words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem: ² “Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!” ³ What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun? ⁴ Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. ⁵ The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries back to where it rises. ⁶ The wind blows southward, then turns northward; round and round it swirls, ever returning on its course. ⁷ All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place from which the streams come, there again they flow. ⁸ All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing. ⁹ What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. ¹⁰ Is there a case where one can say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us. ¹¹ There is no remembrance of those who came before, and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow after. ¹² I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³ And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them! ¹⁴ I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind. ¹⁵ What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted. ¹⁶ I said to myself, “Behold, I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷ So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind. ¹⁸ For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.

⁴² Thus the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. ⁴³ And Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. And his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.

³⁰ Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

¹⁷ but Rehoboam still reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent out Hadoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste and escaped to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So to this day Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David.

⁷ and you have even appointed prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim on your behalf: ‘There is a king in Judah.’ Soon these rumors will reach the ears of the king. So come, let us confer together.”

⁹ I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; behold, I do not seal my lips, as You, O LORD, do know.

¹² I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

²⁷ “Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation.

⁸ “Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile!” ⁹ Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also taught the people knowledge; he pondered, searched out, and arranged many proverbs. ¹⁰ The Teacher searched to find delightful sayings and to record accurate words of truth.

¹ The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,

² “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”

⁵ if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight;

⁵ You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah ⁶ Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.

⁹ Lowborn men are but a vapor, the exalted but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor. ¹⁰ Place no trust in extortion, or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.

⁴ Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

¹¹ Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

¹⁵ So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile.

¹⁷ So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁹ And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.

²¹ When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great evil.

²³ Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.

²⁶ To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁹ For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile.

⁴ I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

⁸ There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task.

¹⁶ There is no limit to all the people who were before them. Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁰ He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.

¹¹ For the more words, the more futility—and how does that profit anyone?

⁸ So if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is futile.

¹⁰ So banish sorrow from your heart, and cast off pain from your body, for youth and vigor are fleeting.

⁸ “Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile!”

²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope

⁴ Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself. ⁵ When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.

²² For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun?

⁹ What does the worker gain from his toil?

³ But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.

⁷ Again, I saw futility under the sun.

¹⁶ This too is a grievous evil: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?

¹⁸ Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot.

¹² For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?

¹¹ Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun.

¹⁵ So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun. ¹⁶ When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night— ¹⁷ I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.

³ This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.

⁶ Their love, their hate, and their envy have already vanished, and they will never again have a share in all that is done under the sun.

¹³ I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me:

² Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.

¹³ Is it not indeed from the LORD of Hosts that the labor of the people only feeds the fire, and the nations weary themselves in vain?

¹⁸ What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.

²⁶ What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

³⁶ What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world yet forfeits his soul? ³⁷ Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

²⁷ Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”

³ When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son in his own likeness, after his own image; and he named him Seth. ⁴ And after he had become the father of Seth, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. ⁵ So Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died. ⁶ When Seth was 105 years old, he became the father of Enosh. ⁷ And after he had become the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. ⁸ So Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died. ⁹ When Enosh was 90 years old, he became the father of Kenan. ¹⁰ And after he had become the father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹¹ So Enosh lived a total of 905 years, and then he died. ¹² When Kenan was 70 years old, he became the father of Mahalalel. ¹³ And after he had become the father of Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁴ So Kenan lived a total of 910 years, and then he died. ¹⁵ When Mahalalel was 65 years old, he became the father of Jared. ¹⁶ And after he had become the father of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁷ So Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years, and then he died. ¹⁸ When Jared was 162 years old, he became the father of Enoch. ¹⁹ And after he had become the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁰ So Jared lived a total of 962 years, and then he died. ²¹ When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah. ²² And after he had become the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. ²³ So Enoch lived a total of 365 years. ²⁴ Enoch walked with God, and then he was no more, because God had taken him away. ²⁵ When Methuselah was 187 years old, he became the father of Lamech. ²⁶ And after he had become the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁷ So Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died. ²⁸ When Lamech was 182 years old, he had a son. ²⁹ And he named him Noah, saying, “May this one comfort us in the labor and toil of our hands caused by the ground that the LORD has cursed.” ³⁰ And after he had become the father of Noah, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. ³¹ So Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died.

²⁰ When Reu was 32 years old, he became the father of Serug. ²¹ And after he had become the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters. ²² When Serug was 30 years old, he became the father of Nahor. ²³ And after he had become the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁴ When Nahor was 29 years old, he became the father of Terah. ²⁵ And after he had become the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁶ When Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. ²⁷ This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. ²⁸ During his father Terah’s lifetime, Haran died in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. ²⁹ And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah. ³⁰ But Sarai was barren; she had no children. ³¹ And Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai the wife of Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan. But when they arrived in Haran, they settled there. ³² Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.

⁹ This is the account of Esau, the father of the Edomites, in the area of Mount Seir. ¹⁰ These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel son of Esau’s wife Basemath. ¹¹ The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. ¹² Additionally, Timna, a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, gave birth to Amalek. These are the grandsons of Esau’s wife Adah. ¹³ These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. They are the grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath. ¹⁴ These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah (daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon) whom she bore to Esau: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. ¹⁵ These are the chiefs among the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, ¹⁶ Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. They are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom, and they are the grandsons of Adah. ¹⁷ These are the sons of Esau’s son Reuel: Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. They are the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom, and they are the grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath. ¹⁸ These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: Chiefs Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. They are the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. ¹⁹ All these are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and they were their chiefs.

⁹ “My travels have lasted 130 years,” Jacob replied. “My years have been few and hard, and they have not matched the years of the travels of my fathers.”

⁶ Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, ⁷ but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.

¹⁶ These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years. ¹⁷ The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimei, by their clans. ¹⁸ The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years. ¹⁹ The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of the Levites according to their records. ²⁰ And Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years. ²¹ The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. ²² The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. ²³ And Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ²⁴ The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the clans of the Korahites. ²⁵ Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the Levite families by their clans. ²⁶ It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their divisions.” ²⁷ Moses and Aaron were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

⁴⁷ Remember the briefness of my lifespan! For what futility You have created all men! ⁴⁸ What man can live and never see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah

⁹ For all our days decline in Your fury; we finish our years with a sigh. ¹⁰ The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty if we are strong—yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

²⁴ I say: “O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days! Your years go on through all generations. ²⁵ In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. ²⁶ They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing You will change them, and they will be passed on. ²⁷ But You remain the same, and Your years will never end. ²⁸ The children of Your servants will dwell securely, and their descendants will be established before You.”

⁵ He set the earth on its foundations, never to be moved.

⁹⁰ Your faithfulness continues through all generations; You established the earth, and it endures. ⁹¹ Your ordinances stand to this day, for all things are servants to You.

⁵ Where are your fathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever?

³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

¹⁰ But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be burned up. ¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed, then, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness ¹² as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³ But in keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

²² As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.”

¹³ So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance upon its enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? “So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.” ¹⁴ There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man, because the LORD fought for Israel.

⁴ their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun. ⁵ Like a bridegroom emerging from his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course, ⁶ it rises at one end of the heavens and runs its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.

¹ For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God.

³⁶ his offspring shall endure forever, and his throne before Me like the sun, ³⁷ like the moon, established forever, a faithful witness in the sky.” Selah

¹⁹ He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows when to set. ²⁰ You bring darkness, and it becomes night, when all the beasts of the forest prowl. ²¹ The young lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. ²² The sun rises, and they withdraw; they lie down in their dens. ²³ Man goes forth to his work and to his labor until evening.

²⁰ “This is what the LORD says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that day and night cease to occupy their appointed time,

¹¹ Sun and moon stood still in their places at the flash of Your flying arrows, at the brightness of Your shining spear.

⁹ The tempest comes from its chamber, and the cold from the driving north winds.

¹⁷ You whose clothes get hot when the land lies hushed under the south wind,

²⁵ For He spoke and raised a tempest that lifted the waves of the sea.

²⁹ He calmed the storm to a whisper, and the waves of the sea were hushed.

⁵ As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones are formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.

⁴ Then the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship was in danger of breaking apart.

²⁴ Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them I will liken to a wise man who built his house on the rock.

²⁷ The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!”

⁸ The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

¹³ When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had their opportunity. So they weighed anchor and sailed along, hugging the coast of Crete. ¹⁴ But it was not long before a cyclone called the Northeaster swept down across the island. ¹⁵ Unable to head into the wind, the ship was caught up. So we gave way and let ourselves be driven along.

¹⁰ when I fixed its boundaries and set in place its bars and doors, ¹¹ and I declared: ‘You may come this far, but no farther; here your proud waves must stop’?

⁶ You covered it with the deep like a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. ⁷ At Your rebuke the waters fled; at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away— ⁸ the mountains rose and the valleys sank to the place You assigned for them— ⁹ You set a boundary they cannot cross, that they may never again cover the earth.

⁵ My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods; with joyful lips my mouth will praise You.

²⁰ Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.

¹⁵ The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’: ¹⁶ Sheol, the barren womb, land never satisfied with water, and fire that never says, ‘Enough!’

¹ Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter. ² So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive. ³ But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun. ⁴ I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁰ He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile. ¹¹ When good things increase, so do those who consume them; what then is the profit to the owner, except to behold them with his eyes?

²⁴ What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it? ²⁵ I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness. ²⁶ And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.

⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

²⁸ Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time. ²³ Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

¹⁶ ‘Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat.’ ¹⁷ For the Lamb in the center of the throne shepherds them. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

¹² Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished?

¹⁵ What exists has already been, and what will be has already been, for God will call to account what has passed.

¹⁰ Whatever exists was named long ago, and what happens to a man is foreknown; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he.

¹⁰ Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is unwise of you to ask about this.

¹⁹ Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

²² How long will you wander, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the land—a woman will shelter a man.”

¹ Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

¹ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

⁵ And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then He said to me, “Write this down, for these words are true and faithful.”

¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.

³⁰ And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.

²⁶ Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man: ²⁷ People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. ²⁹ But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ It will be just like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

⁵¹ You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.

¹⁴ For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Judea that are in Christ Jesus. You suffered from your own countrymen the very things they suffered from the Jews, ¹⁵ who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men, ¹⁶ hindering us from telling the Gentiles how they may be saved. As a result, they continue to heap up their sins to full capacity; the utmost wrath has come upon them.

⁸ Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and disqualified from the faith.

⁶ The enemy has come to eternal ruin, and You have uprooted their cities; the very memory of them has vanished.

¹⁶ For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool!

⁵ For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.

²² “Let them come and tell us what will happen. Tell the former things, so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome. Or announce to us what is coming. ²³ Tell us the things that are to come, so that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do something good or evil, that we may look on together in dismay. ²⁴ Behold, you are nothing and your work is of no value. Anyone who chooses you is detestable. ²⁵ I have raised up one from the north, and he has come—one from the east who calls on My name. He will march over rulers as if they were mortar, like a potter who treads the clay. ²⁶ Who has declared this from the beginning, so that we may know, and from times past, so that we may say: ‘He was right’? No one announced it, no one foretold it, no one heard your words.

⁹ Behold, the former things have happened, and now I declare new things. Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”

¹ So King Solomon ruled over Israel, ² and these were his chief officials: Azariah son of Zadok was the priest; ³ Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder; ⁴ Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; ⁵ Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the governors; Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and adviser to the king; ⁶ Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor. ⁷ Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel to provide food for the king and his household. Each one would arrange provisions for one month of the year, ⁸ and these were their names: Ben-hur in the hill country of Ephraim; ⁹ Ben-deker in Makaz, in Shaalbim, in Beth-shemesh, and in Elon-beth-hanan; ¹⁰ Ben-hesed in Arubboth (Socoh and all the land of Hepher belonged to him); ¹¹ Ben-abinadab in Naphath-dor (Taphath, a daughter of Solomon, was his wife); ¹² Baana son of Ahilud in Taanach, in Megiddo, and in all of Beth-shean next to Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah and on past Jokmeam; ¹³ Ben-geber in Ramoth-gilead (the villages of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead belonged to him, as well as the region of Argob in Bashan with its sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars); ¹⁴ Ahinadab son of Iddo in Mahanaim; ¹⁵ Ahimaaz in Naphtali (he had married Basemath, a daughter of Solomon); ¹⁶ Baana son of Hushai in Asher and in Aloth; ¹⁷ Jehoshaphat son of Paruah in Issachar; ¹⁸ Shimei son of Ela in Benjamin; ¹⁹ Geber son of Uri in the land of Gilead, including the territories of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. There was also one governor in the land of Judah.

¹ These are the words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:

¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”

² Great are the works of the LORD; they are pondered by all who delight in them.

² if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding, ³ if you truly call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding, ⁴ if you seek it like silver and search it out like hidden treasure,

⁷ Wisdom is supreme; so acquire wisdom. And whatever you may acquire, gain understanding.

¹ He who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound judgment.

¹⁵ The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks it out.

²⁶ My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.

¹⁷ So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁰ I have seen the burden that God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them.

²⁵ I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.

⁹ All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment.

¹² And by these, my son, be further warned: There is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body.

¹⁵ Be diligent in these matters and absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all.

³⁰ Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ He was wiser than all men—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and wiser than Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread throughout the surrounding nations. ³² Solomon composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five.

¹⁷ So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind. ¹⁸ For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.

⁹ Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

⁶ and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know then that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.

²⁹ But when He remains silent, who can condemn Him? When He hides His face, who can see Him? Yet He watches over both man and nation,

¹⁴ I know that everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God does it so that they should fear Him.

¹² For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner. ¹³ Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent?

⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain.

³⁷ Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it?

³⁵ All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”

²⁷ Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

¹² behold, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has never been nor will ever be another like you. ¹³ Moreover, I will give you what you did not request—both riches and honor—so that during all your days no man in any kingdom will be your equal.

³⁰ Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.

⁷ But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told to me. Your wisdom and prosperity have far exceeded the report I heard.

²³ So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. ²⁴ The whole world sought an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom that God had put in his heart.

²⁰ Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has spared this Aramean, Naaman, while not accepting what he brought. As surely as the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”

¹⁰ Now grant me wisdom and knowledge, so that I may lead this people. For who is able to govern this great people of Yours?” ¹¹ God said to Solomon, “Since this was in your heart instead of requesting riches or wealth or glory for yourself or death for your enemies—and since you have not even requested long life but have asked for wisdom and knowledge to govern My people over whom I have made you king— ¹² therefore wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. And I will also give you riches and wealth and honor unlike anything given to the kings before you or after you.”

¹² And Hiram added: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth! He has given King David a wise son with insight and understanding, who will build a temple for the LORD and a royal palace for himself.

²² So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. ²³ All the kings of the earth sought an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom that God had put in his heart.

⁴ Be angry, yet do not sin; on your bed, search your heart and be still. Selah

⁶ At night I remembered my song; in my heart I mused, and my spirit pondered:

⁹ So I became great and surpassed all in Jerusalem who had preceded me; and my wisdom remained with me.

⁷ But this is not his intention; this is not his plan. For it is in his heart to destroy and cut off many nations. ⁸ “Are not all my commanders kings?” he says. ⁹ “Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? ¹⁰ As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria, ¹¹ and as I have done to Samaria and its idols, will I not also do to Jerusalem and her idols?” ¹² So when the Lord has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud look in his eyes. ¹³ For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers. ¹⁴ My hand reached as into a nest to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. No wing fluttered, no beak opened or chirped.’”

¹⁴ who says, ‘I will build myself a great palace, with spacious upper rooms.’ So he cuts windows in it, panels it with cedar, and paints it with vermilion.

¹⁰ This is what the Lord GOD says: On that day, thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will devise an evil plan. ¹¹ You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will come against a tranquil people who dwell securely, all of them living without walls or bars or gates—

³⁰ the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”

¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.

¹³ And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them! ¹⁴ I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

³ I sought to cheer my body with wine and to embrace folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—until I could see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

¹⁰ Anything my eyes desired, I did not deny myself. I refused my heart no pleasure. For my heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. ¹¹ Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun. ¹² Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished?

²³ All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me. ²⁴ What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it? ²⁵ I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.

²¹ but test all things. Hold fast to what is good.

²⁸ And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

¹⁶ Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself?

¹² And by these, my son, be further warned: There is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body. ¹³ When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.

¹⁸ Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise. ¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” ²⁰ And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth. ¹⁵ Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶ For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice. ¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.