Ecclesiastes Cross References - NHEB

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 from all his labor in which he labors under the sun? ⁴ One generation goes, and another generation comes; but the earth remains forever. ⁵ The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hurries to its place where it rises. ⁶ The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north. It turns around continually as it goes, and the wind returns again to its courses. ⁷ All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, there they flow again. ⁸ All things are full of weariness beyond uttering. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. ⁹ That which has been is that which shall be; and that which has been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. ¹⁰ Is there a thing of which it may be said, "Look, this is new?" It has been long ago, in the ages which were before us. ¹¹ There is no memory of the former; neither shall there be any memory of the latter that are to come, among those that shall come after. ¹² I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³ I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the sky. It is a heavy burden that God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. ¹⁴ I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and look, all is vanity and a chasing after wind. ¹⁵ That which is crooked can't be made straight; and that which is lacking can't be counted. ¹⁶ I said to myself, "Look, I have obtained for myself great wisdom above all who were before me in Jerusalem. Yes, my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge." ¹⁷ I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also was a chasing after wind. ¹⁸ For in much wisdom is much grief; and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

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

³⁰ Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

¹⁷ But as for the children of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. ¹⁸ Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the men subject to forced labor; and the children of Israel stoned him to death with stones. King Rehoboam made speed to get himself up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel rebelled against the house of David to this day.

⁷ You have also appointed prophets to preach of you at Jerusalem, saying, 'There is a king in Judah.' Now it will be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together."

⁹ I have proclaimed glad news of righteousness in the great assembly. Look, I will not seal my lips, LORD, you know.

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

²⁷ Look, this have I found, says the Preacher, one to another, to find out the scheme;

⁸ Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher. All is vanity. ⁹ Further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered, sought out, and set in order many proverbs. ¹⁰ The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written blamelessly, words of truth.

¹ The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because he 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 an opening of the eyes to the blind;

² "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I give you."

⁵ and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a proclaimer of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly;

⁵ Look, you have made my days handbreadths. My lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely every man stands as a breath." Selah. ⁶ "Surely a person goes about like a shadow. Surely he heaps up vain things of wealth, and doesn't know who shall gather them.

⁹ Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath. ¹⁰ Do not trust in oppression. Do not become vain in robbery. If riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

⁴ Man is like a breath. His days are like a shadow that passes away.

¹¹ Then I looked at all the works that my hands had worked, and at the labor that I had labored to do; and look, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

¹⁵ Then said I in my heart, "As it happens to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise?" Then said I in my heart that this also is vanity.

¹⁷ So I hated life, because the work that is worked under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.

¹⁹ Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all of my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.

²¹ For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, with knowledge, and with skillfulness; yet he shall leave it for his portion to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.

²³ For all his days are sorrows, and his travail is grief; yes, even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.

²⁶ For to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.

¹⁹ For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath; and man has no advantage over the animals: for all is vanity.

⁴ Then I saw all the labor and achievement that is the envy of a man's neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

⁸ There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. For whom then, do I labor, and deprive my soul of enjoyment? This also is vanity, yes, it is a miserable business.

¹⁶ There was no end of all the people, even of all them over whom he was—yet those who come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a chasing after wind.

¹⁰ He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity.

¹¹ For there are many words that create vanity. What does that profit man?

⁸ Yes, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity.

¹⁰ Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

⁸ Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher. All is vanity.

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

⁴ Do not weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint. ⁵ Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.

²² For what has a man of all his labor, and of the striving of his heart, in which he labors under the sun?

⁹ What profit has he who works in that in which he labors?

³ Yes, better than them both is him who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

⁷ Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.

¹⁶ This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind?

¹⁸ Look, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, in which he labors under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion.

¹² For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spends like a shadow? For who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun?

¹¹ Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. Yes, it is more excellent for those who see the sun.

¹⁵ Then I commended mirth, because a man has no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: for that will accompany him in his labor all the days of his life which God has given him under the sun. ¹⁶ When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on the earth (for also there is that neither day nor night sees sleep with his eyes), ¹⁷ then I saw all the work of God, that man can't find out the work that is done under the sun, because however much a man labors to seek it out, yet he won't find it. Yes even though a wise man thinks he can comprehend it, he won't be able to find it.

³ This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event to all: yes also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

⁶ Also their love, their hatred, and their envy has perished long ago; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.

¹³ I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.

² Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which doesn't satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

¹³ Look, isn't it of the LORD of hosts that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity?

¹⁸ "What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols?

²⁶ For what will it profit a person, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life? Or what will a person give in exchange for his life?

³⁶ For what does it profit a person to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? ³⁷ Or what will a person give in exchange for his soul?

²⁷ Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him."

³ Adam lived two hundred and thirty years, and became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. ⁴ The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were seven hundred years, and he became the father of sons and daughters. ⁵ All the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, then he died. ⁶ Seth lived two hundred and five years, and became the father of Enosh. ⁷ Seth lived after he became the father of Enosh seven hundred and seven years, and fathered sons and daughters. ⁸ All the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, then he died. ⁹ Enosh lived one hundred and ninety years, and became the father of Kenan. ¹⁰ Enosh lived after he became the father of Kenan, seven hundred and fifteen years, and fathered sons and daughters. ¹¹ All the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years, then he died. ¹² Kenan lived one hundred and seventy years, and became the father of Mahalalel. ¹³ Kenan lived after he became the father of Mahalalel seven hundred and forty years, and fathered sons and daughters ¹⁴ and all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, then he died. ¹⁵ Mahalalel lived one hundred and sixty-five years, and became the father of Jared. ¹⁶ Mahalalel lived after he became the father of Jared seven hundred and thirty years, and fathered sons and daughters. ¹⁷ All the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, then he died. ¹⁸ Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and became the father of Hanoch. ¹⁹ Jared lived after he became the father of Hanoch eight hundred years, and fathered sons and daughters. ²⁰ All the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, then he died. ²¹ Hanoch lived one hundred and sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah. ²² Hanoch walked with God after he became the father of Methuselah two hundred years, and fathered sons and daughters. ²³ All the days of Hanoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. ²⁴ Hanoch walked with God, and then he was not there, for God took him. ²⁵ Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and became the father of Lamech. ²⁶ Methuselah lived after he became the father of Lamech seven hundred and eighty-two years, and fathered sons and daughters. ²⁷ All the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, then he died. ²⁸ Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and became the father of a son, ²⁹ and he named him Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us in our labor and in the hard work of our hands, because of the ground which God has cursed.” ³⁰ Lamech lived after he became the father of Noah five hundred and ninety-five years, and fathered sons and daughters. ³¹ All the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years, then he died.

²⁰ Reu lived one hundred and thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug. ²¹ Reu lived two hundred and seven years after he became the father of Serug, and fathered sons and daughters. ²² Serug lived one hundred and thirty years, and became the father of Nahor. ²³ Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and fathered sons and daughters. ²⁴ Nahor lived seventy-nine years, and became the father of Terah. ²⁵ Nahor lived one hundred and twenty-nine years after he became the father of Terah, and fathered sons and daughters. ²⁶ Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. ²⁷ Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. ²⁸ And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur Kasdim. ²⁹ And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran who was also the father of Iscah. ³⁰ And Sarai was barren. She had no child. ³¹ And Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abramʼs wife, and with them he set out from Ur Kasdim to go into the land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. ³² And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years. And Terah died in Haran.

⁹ These are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir: ¹⁰ these are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz, the son of Adah, the wife of Esau; and Reuel, the son of Basemath, the wife of Esau. ¹¹ The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz. ¹² Timna was the secondary wife to Eliphaz, Esauʼs son; and she bore to Eliphaz Amalek. These are the sons of Adah, Esauʼs wife. ¹³ These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, and Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Basemath, Esauʼs wife. ¹⁴ These were the sons of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, Esauʼs wife: she bore to Esau Jeush, and Jalam, and Korah. ¹⁵ These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, ¹⁶ chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek: these are the chiefs who came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah. ¹⁷ These are the sons of Reuel, Esau's son: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah: these are the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife. ¹⁸ These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau's wife: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah: these are the chiefs who came of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife. ¹⁹ These are the sons of Esau (also known as Edom), and these are their chiefs.

⁹ So Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my sojourning are one hundred thirty years. Few and difficult have been the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning."

⁶ Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and all that generation. ⁷ The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.

¹⁶ These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred thirty-seven years. ¹⁷ The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families. ¹⁸ The sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred thirty-three years. ¹⁹ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. ²⁰ Amram took Jochebed his father's sister to himself as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty-seven years. ²¹ The sons of Izhar: Korah, and Nepheg, and Zikri. ²² The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri. ²³ Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as his wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ²⁴ The sons of Korah: Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. ²⁵ Eleazar Aaron's son took one of the daughters of Putiel as his wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of ancestral houses of the Levites according to their families. ²⁶ These are the Aaron and Moses to whom God said, "Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their regiments." ²⁷ These are those who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are that Moses and Aaron.

⁴⁷ Remember how short my time is. Have you created the descendants of Adam for no reason? ⁴⁸ What man is he who shall live and not see death, who shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah.

⁹ For all our days have passed away in your wrath. We bring our years to an end as a sigh. ¹⁰ The days of our years are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty years; yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for it passes quickly, and we fly away.

²⁴ I said, "My God, do not take me away in the midst of my days. Your years are throughout all generations. ²⁵ In the beginning, LORD, you established the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the works of your hands. ²⁶ They will perish, but you remain; and they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a cloak, and they will be changed. ²⁷ But you are the same. Your years will have no end. ²⁸ The children of your servants will continue, and their descendants will be established before you."

⁵ He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever and ever.

⁹⁰ Your faithfulness is to all generations. You have established the earth, and it remains. ⁹¹ Your laws remain to this day, for all things serve you.

⁵ Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?

³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works on it will not be found. ¹¹ Therefore since all these things will be destroyed like this, what kind of people ought you to be in holy living and godliness, ¹² looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, which will cause the burning heavens to be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? ¹³ But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

²² While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."

¹³ The sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies. Isn't this written in the book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the midst of the sky, and did not hurry to go down about a whole day. ¹⁴ There was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD listened to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.

⁴ Their voice has gone out to all the earth, their words to the farthest part of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, ⁵ which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a strong man rejoicing to run his course. ⁶ His going forth is from the end of the heavens, his circuit to its ends; There is nothing hidden from its heat.

¹ [For the Chief Musician. A contemplation by the sons of Korah.] As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God.

³⁶ His descendants will endure forever, his throne like the sun before me. ³⁷ It will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky." Selah.

¹⁹ He appointed the moon for seasons. The sun knows when to set. ²⁰ You make darkness, and it is night, in which all the animals of the forest prowl. ²¹ The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God. ²² The sun rises, and they steal away, and lie down in their dens. ²³ Man goes forth to his work, to his labor until the evening.

²⁰ "Thus says the LORD: 'If you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season;

¹¹ The sun and moon stood still in the sky, at the light of your arrows as they went, at the shining of your glittering spear.

⁹ Out of its chamber comes the storm, and cold out of the north.

¹⁷ You whose clothing is warm, when the earth is still by reason of the south wind?

²⁵ For he commands, and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up its waves.

²⁹ He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still.

⁵ As you do not know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you do not know the work of God who does all.

⁴ But the LORD sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty storm on the sea, so that the ship was likely to break up.

²⁴ "Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them, will be compared to a wise man, who built his house on a rock.

²⁷ And the rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it fell—and great was its fall."

⁸ The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

¹³ When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to shore. ¹⁴ But before long, a stormy wind beat down from shore, which is called Euraquilo. ¹⁵ When the ship was caught, and could not face the wind, we gave way to it, and were driven along.

¹⁰ marked out for it my bound, set bars and doors, ¹¹ and said, 'Here you may come, but no further. Here your proud waves shall be stayed?'

⁶ You covered it with the deep as with a cloak. The waters stood above the mountains. ⁷ At your rebuke they fled. At the voice of your thunder they hurried away. ⁸ The mountains rose, the valleys sank down, to the place which you had assigned to them. ⁹ You have set a boundary that they may not pass over; that they do not turn again to cover the earth.

⁵ My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food. My mouth shall praise you with joyful lips,

²⁰ Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man's eyes are never satisfied.

¹⁵ "The leach has two daughters: 'Give, give.' "There are three things that are never satisfied; four that do not say, 'Enough:' ¹⁶ Sheol, the barren womb; the earth that is not satisfied with water; and the fire that doesn't say, 'Enough.'

¹ Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and look, the tears of those who were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. ² Therefore I praised the dead who have been long dead more than the living who are yet alive. ³ Yes, better than them both is him who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun. ⁴ Then I saw all the labor and achievement that is the envy of a man's neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

¹⁰ He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity. ¹¹ When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes?

²⁴ That which is, is far off and exceedingly deep. Who can find it out? ²⁵ I turned around, and my heart sought to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity, and that foolishness is madness. ²⁶ I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and traps, whose hands are chains. Whoever pleases God shall escape from her; but the sinner will be ensnared by her.

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

²⁸ "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.

²² For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers with labor pains together until now. ²³ And not only this, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body.

¹⁶ They will hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither will the sun beat on them, nor any heat; ¹⁷ for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shepherds them, and leads them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

¹² I turned myself to consider wisdom, madness, and folly. For what can the man who comes after the king do? Just that which he has already done.

¹⁵ That which is has been long ago, and that which is to be has been long ago: and God seeks again that which is passed away.

¹⁰ Whatever has been, its name was given long ago; and it is known what man is; neither can he contend with him who is mightier than he.

¹⁰ Do not say, "Why were the former days better than these?" For you do not ask wisely about this.

¹⁹ Look, I will do a new thing. It springs forth now. Do you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

²² How long will you go here and there, you backsliding daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth: a woman shall encompass a man."

¹ But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction.

¹ I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.

⁵ He who sits on the throne said, "Look, I am making all things new." He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true."

¹² Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

³⁰ and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.' ³¹ Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets. ³² Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.

²⁶ As it happened in the days of Noah, even so will it be also in the days of the Son of Man. ²⁷ They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the box-shaped vessel, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. ²⁸ Likewise, even as it happened in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; ²⁹ but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from the sky, and destroyed them all. ³⁰ It will be the same way in the day that the Son of Man is revealed.

⁵¹ "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so you do.

¹⁴ For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus; for you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, even as they did from the Judeans; ¹⁵ who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and did not please God, and are hostile to all people; ¹⁶ forbidding us to speak to those who are not Jewish that they may be saved; to fill up their sins always. But wrath has come on them to the uttermost.

⁸ Even as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so do these also oppose the truth; people corrupted in mind, disapproved concerning the faith.

⁶ The enemy is overtaken by endless ruin; and the very memory of the cities which you have overthrown has perished.

¹⁶ For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no memory for ever, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. Indeed, the wise man must die just like the fool.

⁵ For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything, neither do they have any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

²² "Let them come near and declare to us what shall happen. Declare the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or show us things to come. ²³ Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and see it together. ²⁴ Look, you are of nothing, and your work is of nothing. He who chooses you is an abomination. ²⁵ "I have raised up one from the north, and he has come; from the rising of the sun, one who calls on my name; and he shall come on rulers as on mortar, and as the potter treads clay. ²⁶ Who has declared it from the beginning, that we may know? And before, that we may say, 'He is right?' Surely, there is no one who declares. Surely, there is no one who shows. Surely, there is no one who hears your words.

⁹ Look, the former things have happened, and I declare new things. I tell you about them before they come up."

¹ King Solomon was king over all Israel. ² These were the officials whom he had: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest; ³ Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder; ⁴ and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests; ⁵ and Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; and Zabud the son of Nathan was chief minister, the king's friend; ⁶ and Ahishar was over the palace; and Eliab son of Joab was over the army; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to forced labor. ⁷ Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household: each man had to make provision for a month in the year. ⁸ These are their names: Ben Hur, in the hill country of Ephraim; ⁹ Ben Deker, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan; ¹⁰ Ben Hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh, and all the land of Hepher); ¹¹ Ben Abinadab, in all the height of Dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as wife); ¹² Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth Shean which is beside Zarethan, beneath Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah, as far as beyond Jokmeam; ¹³ Ben Geber, in Ramoth Gilead (to him belonged the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; to him belonged the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars); ¹⁴ Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; ¹⁵ Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife); ¹⁶ Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and in Aloth; ¹⁷ Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; ¹⁸ Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; ¹⁹ Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only prefect in the land of Judah.

¹ The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:

¹⁹ By the sweat of your face will you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

² The LORD's works are great, pondered by all those who delight in them.

² So as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; ³ Yes, if you call out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding; ⁴ If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures:

⁷ Wisdom is supreme. Get wisdom. Yes, though it costs all your possessions, get understanding.

¹ An unfriendly man pursues selfishness, and defies all sound judgment.

¹⁵ The heart of the discerning gets knowledge. The ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

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

¹⁷ I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also was a chasing after wind.

¹⁰ I have seen the burden which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.

²⁵ I turned around, and my heart sought to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity, and that foolishness is madness.

⁹ All this have I seen, and applied my mind to every work that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has power over another to his hurt.

¹² Furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

¹⁵ Be diligent in these things. Give yourself wholly to them, that your progress may be revealed to all.

³⁰ Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the people of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all the nations all around. ³² He spoke three thousand proverbs; and his songs were one thousand five.

¹⁷ I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also was a chasing after wind. ¹⁸ For in much wisdom is much grief; and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

⁹ Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.

⁶ that he would show you the secrets of wisdom. For true wisdom has two sides. Know therefore that God exacts of you less than your iniquity deserves.

²⁹ When he gives quietness, who then can condemn? When he hides his face, who then can see him? Alike whether to a nation, or to a man,

¹⁴ I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; and God has done it, that men should fear before him.

¹² For wisdom is a defense, even as money is a defense; but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it. ¹³ Consider the work of God, for who can make that straight, which he has made crooked?

⁴ Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low, and the uneven will be made level, and the rough places a plain.

³⁷ Who can speak a thing and have it come to pass, unless the LORD has commanded it?

³⁵ All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing; and he does according to his will in the host of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or tell him, "What have you done?"

²⁷ "And which of you, by being anxious, can add one cubit to his height?

¹² look, I have done according to your word. Look, I have given you a wise and an understanding heart; so that there has been none like you before you, neither after you shall any arise like you. ¹³ I have also given you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be any among the kings like you, all your days.

³⁰ Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the people of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt.

⁷ However I did not believe the words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it. Look, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard.

²³ So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. ²⁴ All the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

²⁰ But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, "Look, my master has spared this Naaman the Aramean, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him, and take something from him."

¹⁰ Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this your people, that is so great?" ¹¹ God said to Solomon, "Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of those who hate you, neither yet have asked long life; but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge my people, over whom I have made you king: ¹² wisdom and knowledge is granted to you. I will give you riches, wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings have had who have been before you; neither shall there any after you have the like."

¹² Hiram continued, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, endowed with discretion and understanding, that should build a house for the LORD, and a house for his kingdom.

²² So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. ²³ All the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

⁴ Be angry, but do not sin. Ponder in your heart, but be at rest on your bed. Selah.

⁶ I remember my song in the night. I consider in my own heart; my spirit diligently inquires:

⁹ So I was great, and increased more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also remained with me.

⁷ However he doesn't mean so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations. ⁸ For he says, "Aren't all of my officials kings? ⁹ Isn't Calno like Carchemish? Isn't Hamath like Arpad? Isn't Samaria like Damascus? ¹⁰ As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose engraved images exceeded those of Jerusalem and of Samaria; ¹¹ shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?" ¹² Therefore it will happen that, when the Lord has performed his whole work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the fruit of the willful proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the insolence of his haughty looks. ¹³ For he has said, "By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have understanding: and I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures. Like a valiant man I have brought down their rulers. ¹⁴ My hand has found the riches of the peoples like a nest, and like one gathers eggs that are abandoned, have I gathered all the earth. There was no one who moved their wing, or that opened their mouth, or chirped."

¹⁴ who says, "I will build me a wide house and spacious rooms," and cuts him out windows; and it is ceiling with cedar, and painted with vermilion.

¹⁰ "'Thus says the Lord GOD: "It shall happen in that day, that things shall come into your mind, and you shall devise an evil device: ¹¹ and you shall say, 'I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates;

³⁰ The king spoke and said, "Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?"

¹⁴ But solid food is for those who are full grown, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.

¹³ I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the sky. It is a heavy burden that God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. ¹⁴ I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and look, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.

³ I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my heart yet guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold of folly, until I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under heaven all the days of their lives.

¹⁰ Whatever my eyes desired, I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor, and this was my portion from all my labor. ¹¹ Then I looked at all the works that my hands had worked, and at the labor that I had labored to do; and look, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was no profit under the sun. ¹² I turned myself to consider wisdom, madness, and folly. For what can the man who comes after the king do? Just that which he has already done.

²³ All this have I proved in wisdom. I said, "I will be wise;" but it was far from me. ²⁴ That which is, is far off and exceedingly deep. Who can find it out? ²⁵ I turned around, and my heart sought to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity, and that foolishness is madness.

²¹ but test all things; hold firmly that which is good.

²⁸ To man he said, 'Look, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.'"

¹⁶ Do not be overly righteous, neither make yourself overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself?

¹² Furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. ¹³ This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.

¹⁸ Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks that he is wise among you in this age, let him become a fool, that he may become wise. ¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He traps the wise in their craftiness." ²⁰ And again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile."

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good conduct that his deeds are done in gentleness of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not boast and do not lie against the truth. ¹⁵ This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic. ¹⁶ For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed. ¹⁷ But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, without hypocrisy.