Oct.
22
Ecclesiastes
8-10
Ecc
8:1 Who is like the wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a
thing? A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his
face is changed.
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8:2 I say, "Keep the king's command!" because of the oath
to God.
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8:3 Don't be hasty to go out of his presence. Don't persist in an
evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him,
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8:4 for the king's word is supreme. Who can say to him, "What
are you doing?"
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8:5 Whoever keeps the commandment shall not come to harm, and his
wise heart will know the time and procedure.
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8:6 For there is a time and procedure for every purpose, although
the misery of man is heavy on him.
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8:7 For he doesn't know that which will be; for who can tell him how
it will be?
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8:8 There is no man who has power over the spirit to contain the
spirit; neither does he have power over the day of death. There is no
discharge in war; neither shall wickedness deliver those who practice
it.
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8:9 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.
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8:10 So I saw the wicked buried. Indeed they came also from
holiness. They went and were forgotten in the city where they did
this. This also is vanity.
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8:11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily,
therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do
evil.
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8:12 Though a sinner commits crimes a hundred times, and lives long,
yet surely I know that it will be better with those who fear God, who
are reverent before him.
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8:13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he
lengthen days like a shadow; because he doesn't fear God.
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8:14 There is a vanity which is done on the earth, that there are
righteous men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked.
Again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work
of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.
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8:15 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.
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8:16 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),
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8:17 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.
Ecc
9:1 For all this I laid to my heart, even to explore all this: that
the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God;
whether it is love or hatred, man doesn't know it; all is before
them.
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9:2 All things come alike to all. There is one event to the
righteous and to the wicked; to the good, to the clean, to the
unclean, to him who sacrifices, and to him who doesn't sacrifice. As
is the good, so is the sinner; he who takes an oath, as he who fears
an oath.
Ecc
9:3 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.
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9:4 For to him who is joined with all the living there is hope; for
a living dog is better than a dead lion.
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9:5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead don't know
anything, neither do they have any more a reward; for the memory of
them is forgotten.
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9:6 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.
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9:7 Go your way--eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a
merry heart; for God has already accepted your works.
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9:8 Let your garments be always white, and don't let your head lack
oil.
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9:9 Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your
life of vanity, which he has given you under the sun, all your days
of vanity: for that is your portion in life, and in your labor in
which you labor under the sun.
Ecc
9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for
there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol,
where you are going.
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9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the
swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise,
nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of
skill; but time and chance happen to them all.
Ecc
9:12 For man also doesn't know his time. As the fish that are taken
in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even
so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly
on them.
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9:13 I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it
seemed great to me.
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9:14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and a great
king came against it, besieged it, and built great bulwarks against
it.
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9:15 Now a poor wise man was found in it, and he by his wisdom
delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
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9:16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless the
poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
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9:17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of
him who rules among fools.
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9:18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys
much good.
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10:1 Dead flies cause the oil of the perfumer to send forth an evil
odor; so does a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor.
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10:2 A wise man's heart is at his right hand, but a fool's heart at
his left.
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10:3 Yes also, when the fool walks by the way, his understanding
fails him, and he says to everyone that he is a fool.
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10:4 If the spirit of the ruler rises up against you, don't leave
your place; for gentleness lays great offenses to rest.
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10:5 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, the sort of
error which proceeds from the ruler.
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10:6 Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in a low place.
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10:7 I have seen servants on horses, and princes walking like
servants on the earth.
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10:8 He who digs a pit may fall into it; and whoever breaks through
a wall may be bitten by a snake.
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10:9 Whoever carves out stones may be injured by them. Whoever
splits wood may be endangered thereby.
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10:10 If the axe is blunt, and one doesn't sharpen the edge, then he
must use more strength; but skill brings success.
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10:11 If the snake bites before it is charmed, then is there no
profit for the charmer's tongue.
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10:12 The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but a fool is
swallowed by his own lips.
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10:13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness; and
the end of his talk is mischievous madness.
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10:14 A fool also multiplies words. Man doesn't know what will be;
and that which will be after him, who can tell him?
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10:15 The labor of fools wearies every one of them; for he doesn't
know how to go to the city.
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10:16 Woe to you, land, when your king is a child, and your princes
eat in the morning!
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10:17 Happy are you, land, when your king is the son of nobles, and
your princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for
drunkenness!
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10:18 By slothfulness the roof sinks in; and through idleness of the
hands the house leaks.
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10:19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes the life glad;
and money is the answer for all things.
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10:20 Don't curse the king, no, not in your thoughts; and don't
curse the rich in your bedchamber: for a bird of the sky may carry
your voice, and that which has wings may tell the matter.
