7k-Ecclesiastes
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Ecclesiastes Chapter 1
Ecclesiastes 1:1 (NIV)
1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
Ecclesiastes 1:2 (NIV)
2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
Ecclesiastes 1:3 (CJB)
3 What does a person gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 1:4 (NIV)
4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
Ecclesiastes 1:5 (NIV)
5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
Ecclesiastes 1:6 (NIV)
6 The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.
Ecclesiastes 1:7 (NIV)
7 All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.
Ecclesiastes 1:8 (NASB)
8 All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing.
Ecclesiastes 1:9 (NASB)
9 That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:10 (CJB)
10 Is there something of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It existed already in the ages before us.
Ecclesiastes 1:11 (CJB)
11 No one remembers the people of long ago; and those to come will not be remembered by those who come after them.
Ecclesiastes 1:12 (NIV)
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
Ecclesiastes 1:13 (NIV)
13 I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men!
Ecclesiastes 1:14 (NASB)
14 I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind.
Ecclesiastes 1:15 (AMP)
15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is defective and lacking cannot be counted.
Ecclesiastes 1:16 (NASB)
16 I said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”
Ecclesiastes 1:17 (NIV)
17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
Ecclesiastes 1:18 (NIV)
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 2
Ecclesiastes 2:1 (NIV)
1 I thought in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 2:2 (NIV)
2 “Laughter,” I said, “is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?”
Ecclesiastes 2:3 (NIV)
3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly–my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
Ecclesiastes 2:4 (NIV)
4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards.
Ecclesiastes 2:5 (NIV)
5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
Ecclesiastes 2:6 (NASB)-M
6 I made reservoirs of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees.
Ecclesiastes 2:7 (NASB)
7 I bought male and female slaves and I had homeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.
Ecclesiastes 2:8 (CJB)
8 I amassed silver and gold, the wealth of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, things that provide sensual delight, and a good many concubines.
Ecclesiastes 2:9 (NIV)
9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
Ecclesiastes 2:10 (NIV)
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.
Ecclesiastes 2:11 (NIV)
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 2:12 (NIV)
12 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king’s successor do than what has already been done?
Ecclesiastes 2:13 (NIV)
13 I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.
Ecclesiastes 2:14 (NIV)
14 The wise man has eyes in his head, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both.
Ecclesiastes 2:15 (NIV)
15 Then I thought in my heart, “The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?” I said in my heart, “This too is meaningless.”
Ecclesiastes 2:16 (NIV)
16 For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten. Like the fool, the wise man too must die!
Ecclesiastes 2:17 (NIV)
17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Ecclesiastes 2:18 (AMP)
18 And I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will succeed me.
Ecclesiastes 2:19 (NIV)
19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 2:20 (NASB)
20 Therefore I completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 2:21 (NIV)
21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.
Ecclesiastes 2:22 (NIV)
22 What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 2:23 (NIV)
23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 2:24 (NIV)
24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God,
Ecclesiastes 2:25 (NASB)
25 For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?
Ecclesiastes 2:26 (NIV)
26 To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 3
Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV)
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
Ecclesiastes 3:2 (NIV)
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
Ecclesiastes 3:3 (NIV)
3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
Ecclesiastes 3:4 (NIV)
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
Ecclesiastes 3:5 (NIV)
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
Ecclesiastes 3:6 (NIV)
6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
Ecclesiastes 3:7 (NIV)
7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
Ecclesiastes 3:8 (NIV)
8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:9 (NASB)
9 What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?
Ecclesiastes 3:10 (AMP)
10 I have seen the painful labor and exertion and miserable business which God has given to the sons of men with which to exercise and busy themselves.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (CJB)
11 He has made everything suited to its time; also, he has given human beings an awareness of eternity; but in such a way that they can’t fully comprehend, from beginning to end, the things God does.
Ecclesiastes 3:12 (NASB)
12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime;
Ecclesiastes 3:13 (NIV)
13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil–this is the gift of God.
Ecclesiastes 3:14 (NIV)
14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.
Ecclesiastes 3:15 (NIV)
15 Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.
Ecclesiastes 3:16 (NASB)
16 Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.
Ecclesiastes 3:17 (AMP)
17 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time [appointed] for every matter and purpose and for every work.
Ecclesiastes 3:18 (CJB)
18 Concerning people, I said to myself, “God is testing them, so that they will see that by themselves they are just animals.
Ecclesiastes 3:19 (NIV)
19 Man’s fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 3:20 (AMP)
20 All go to one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
Ecclesiastes 3:21 (NASB)-M
21 Who can show that the invisible eternal human spirits of people ascend upward toward eternity (after the death of their physical human bodies) and that the breath of life of the beast descends downward into nonexistence by decomposition of their animal carcass back into the dust of the earth?
Ecclesiastes 3:22 (NIV)
22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?
Ecclesiastes Chapter 4
Ecclesiastes 4:1 (CJB)
1 But I turned away and thought about all the kinds of oppression being done under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them. The power was on the side of their oppressors, and they had no one to comfort them.
Ecclesiastes 4:2 (NIV)
2 And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive.
Ecclesiastes 4:3 (NASB)
3 But better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 4:4 (NIV)
4 And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Ecclesiastes 4:5 (NIV)
5 The fool folds his hands and ruins himself.
Ecclesiastes 4:6 (NIV)
6 Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.
Ecclesiastes 4:7 (NIV)
7 Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:
Ecclesiastes 4:8 (NASB)
8 There was a certain man without a dependent, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches and he never asked, “And for whom am I laboring and depriving myself of pleasure?” This too is vanity and it is a grievous task.
Ecclesiastes 4:9 (CJB)
9 Two are better than one, in that their cooperative efforts yield this advantage:
Ecclesiastes 4:10 (CJB)
10 if one of them falls, the other will help his partner up — woe to him who is alone when he falls and has no one to help him up.
Ecclesiastes 4:11 (CJB)
11 Again, if two people sleep together, they keep each other warm; but how can one person be warm by himself?
Ecclesiastes 4:12 (CJB)
12 Moreover, an attacker may defeat someone who is alone, but two can resist him; and a three-stranded cord is not easily broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:13 (NASB)
13 A poor yet wise lad is better than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to receive instruction.
Ecclesiastes 4:14 (NASB)
14 For he has come out of prison to become king, even though he was born poor in his kingdom.
Ecclesiastes 4:15 (CJB)
15 I observed that all who live and walk under the sun took the side of the youth mentioned first who would rule in place of the king,
Ecclesiastes 4:16 (CJB)
16 and that no limit was set for the number of his subjects. Nevertheless, those who come afterwards will not regard him highly. This too is certainly pointless and feeding on wind.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 5
Ecclesiastes 5:1 (CJB)
1 Watch your step when you go to the house of God. Offering to listen is better than fools offering sacrifices, because they don’t discern whether or not they are doing evil.
Ecclesiastes 5:2 (CJB)
2 Don’t speak impulsively — don’t be in a hurry to give voice to your words before God. For God is in heaven, and you are on earth; so let your words be few.
Ecclesiastes 5:3 (NASB)
3 For the dream comes through much effort and the voice of a fool through many words.
Ecclesiastes 5:4 (NASB)
4 When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow!
Ecclesiastes 5:5 (NASB)
5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.
Ecclesiastes 5:6 (NASB)
6 Do not let your speech cause you to sin and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice and destroy the work of your hands?
Ecclesiastes 5:7 (NKJV)
7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God.
Ecclesiastes 5:8 (CJB)
8 If you see the poor oppressed, rights violated and justice perverted in the province, don’t be surprised; for a high official has one higher watching him, and there are others above them.
Ecclesiastes 5:9 (NIV)
9 The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NLT)
10 Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!
Ecclesiastes 5:11 (NIV)
11 As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?
Ecclesiastes 5:12 (NIV)
12 The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.
Ecclesiastes 5:13 (NLT)
13 There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver.
Ecclesiastes 5:14 (NLT)
14 Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children.
Ecclesiastes 5:15 (NLT)
15 We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us.
Ecclesiastes 5:16 (NLT)
16 And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind.
Ecclesiastes 5:17 (NLT)
17 Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud—frustrated, discouraged, and angry.
Ecclesiastes 5:18 (NLT)
18 Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life.
Ecclesiastes 5:19 (NLT)
19 And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God.
Ecclesiastes 5:20 (NLT)
20 God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 6
Ecclesiastes 6:1 (NASB)
1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent among men—
Ecclesiastes 6:2 (NIV)
2 God gives a man wealth, possessions and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them, and a stranger enjoys them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.
Ecclesiastes 6:3 (NIV)
3 A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
Ecclesiastes 6:4 (NIV)
4 It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded.
Ecclesiastes 6:5 (NIV)
5 Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man–
Ecclesiastes 6:6 (NIV)
6 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?
Ecclesiastes 6:7 (NIV)
7 All man’s efforts are for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.
Ecclesiastes 6:8 (NIV)
8 What advantage has a wise man over a fool? What does a poor man gain by knowing how to conduct himself before others?
Ecclesiastes 6:9 (NKJV)
9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
Ecclesiastes 6:10 (NKJV)
10 Whatever one is, he has been named already, For it is known that he is man; And he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he.
Ecclesiastes 6:11 (AMP)
11 Seeing that there are [all these and] many other things and words that increase the emptiness, falsity, vainglory, and futility [of living], what profit and what outcome is there for man?
Ecclesiastes 6:12 (NIV)
12 For who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few and meaningless days he passes through like a shadow? Who can tell him what will happen under the sun after he is gone?
Ecclesiastes Chapter 7
Ecclesiastes 7:1 (NASB)
1 A good name is better than a good ointment, And the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.
Ecclesiastes 7:2 (NIV)
2 It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.
Ecclesiastes 7:3 (CJB)
3 Grief is better than laughter, for sadness can improve a person.
Ecclesiastes 7:4 (NLT)
4 A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time.
Ecclesiastes 7:5 (CJB)
5 It is better to hear the rebukes of the wise than to listen to the songs of fools.
Ecclesiastes 7:6 (NIV)
6 Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 7:7 (NIV)
7 Extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
Ecclesiastes 7:8 (NIV)
8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.
Ecclesiastes 7:9 (NIV)
9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.
Ecclesiastes 7:10 (NLT)
10 Don’t long for “the good old days.” This is not wise.
Ecclesiastes 7:11 (NLT)
11 Wisdom is even better when you have money. Both are a benefit as you go through life.
Ecclesiastes 7:12 (NLT)
12 Wisdom and money can get you almost anything, but only wisdom can save your life.
Ecclesiastes 7:13 (NLT)
13 Accept the way God does things, for who can straighten what he has made crooked?
Ecclesiastes 7:14 (NLT)
14 Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life.
Ecclesiastes 7:15 (NLT)
15 I have seen everything in this meaningless life, including the death of good young people and the long life of wicked people.
Ecclesiastes 7:16 (CJB)
16 So don’t be overly righteous or overly wise; why should you disappoint yourself?
Ecclesiastes 7:17 (CJB)
17 But don’t be overly wicked, and don’t be foolish; why should you die before your time?
Ecclesiastes 7:18 (NIV)
18 It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all [extremes].
Ecclesiastes 7:19 (NLT)
19 One wise person is stronger than ten leading citizens of a town!
Ecclesiastes 7:20 (NIV)
20 There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.
Ecclesiastes 7:21 (CJB)
21 Also, don’t take seriously every word spoken, such as when you hear your servant speaking badly of you;
Ecclesiastes 7:22 (CJB)
22 because often, as you yourself know, you have spoken badly of others.
Ecclesiastes 7:23 (NLT)
23 I have always tried my best to let wisdom guide my thoughts and actions. I said to myself, “I am determined to be wise.” But it didn’t work.
Ecclesiastes 7:24 (NIV)
24 Whatever wisdom may be, it is far off and most profound– who can discover it?
Ecclesiastes 7:25 (NIV)
25 So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.
Ecclesiastes 7:26 (NIV)
26 I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.
Ecclesiastes 7:27 (NIV2011)
27 “Look,” says the Teacher, “this is what I have discovered: “Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things—
Ecclesiastes 7:28 (CJB)-M
28 I searched a long time without finding it: I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all.
Ecclesiastes 7:29 (NIV2011)
29 This only have I found: God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes.”
Ecclesiastes Chapter 8
Ecclesiastes 8:1 (NLT)
1 How wonderful to be wise, to analyze and interpret things. Wisdom lights up a person’s face, softening its harshness.
Ecclesiastes 8:2 (NIV)
2 Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God.
Ecclesiastes 8:3 (NLT)-M
3 Don’t try to avoid doing your duty, and don’t stand with those who plot evil against the king, for the king can do whatever he wants.
Ecclesiastes 8:4 (NLT)
4 His command is backed by great power. No one can resist or question it.
Ecclesiastes 8:5 (NASB)
5 He who keeps a royal command experiences no trouble, for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure.
Ecclesiastes 8:6 (NIV)
6 For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.
Ecclesiastes 8:7 (NIV)
7 Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come?
Ecclesiastes 8:8 (NIV)
8 No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death. As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
Ecclesiastes 8:9 (NIV)
9 All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt.
Ecclesiastes 8:10 (NLT)
10 I have seen wicked people buried with honor. Yet they were the very ones who frequented the Temple and are now praised in the same city where they committed their crimes! This, too, is meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 8:11 (NIV)
11 When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong.
Ecclesiastes 8:12 (NIV)
12 Although a wicked man commits a hundred crimes and still lives a long time, I know that it will go better with God-fearing men, who are reverent before God.
Ecclesiastes 8:13 (NIV)
13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
Ecclesiastes 8:14 (NIV)
14 There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: righteous men who get what the wicked deserve, and wicked men who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 8:15 (NIV)
15 So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 8:16 (NIV)
16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe man’s labor on earth–his eyes not seeing sleep day or night–
Ecclesiastes 8:17 (NIV)
17 then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 9
Ecclesiastes 9:1 (NIV)
1 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no man knows whether love or hate awaits him.
Ecclesiastes 9:2 (NIV)
2 All share a common destiny–the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. As it is with the good man, so with the sinner; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them.
Ecclesiastes 9:3 (NIV)
3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.
Ecclesiastes 9:4 (NIV)
4 Anyone who is among the living has hope–even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!
Ecclesiastes 9:5 (NIV)
5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten.
Ecclesiastes 9:6 (NIV)
6 Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 9:7 (NIV)
7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do.
Ecclesiastes 9:8 (NKJV)
8 Let your garments always be white, and let your head lack no oil.
Ecclesiastes 9:9 (NLT)
9 Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you under the sun. The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly toil.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 (NIV)
10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
Ecclesiastes 9:11 (NLT)
11 I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.
Ecclesiastes 9:12 (NLT)
12 People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy.
Ecclesiastes 9:13 (NIV)
13 I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me:
Ecclesiastes 9:14 (NIV)
14 There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege-works against it.
Ecclesiastes 9:15 (CJB)
15 Now there was found in it a man who was poor but wise, and by his wisdom he saved the city; yet afterwards, nobody remembered that poor man.
Ecclesiastes 9:16 (NLT)
16 So even though wisdom is better than strength, those who are wise will be despised if they are poor. What they say will not be appreciated for long.
Ecclesiastes 9:17 (CJB)
17 A wise man speaking quietly is more worth heeding than the shouts of a ruler commanding fools.
Ecclesiastes 9:18 (NIV)
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 10
Ecclesiastes 10:1 (NIV)
1 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
Ecclesiastes 10:2 (CJB)
2 A wise man’s heart leads him rightly, but a fool’s heart leads him astray;
Ecclesiastes 10:3 (NIV)
3 Even as he walks along the road, the fool lacks sense and shows everyone how stupid he is.
Ecclesiastes 10:4 (NASB)
4 If the ruler’s temper rises against you, do not abandon your position, because composure allays great offenses.
Ecclesiastes 10:5 (NIV)
5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun, the sort of error that arises from a ruler:
Ecclesiastes 10:6 (NLT)
6 when they give great authority to foolish people and low positions to people of proven worth.
Ecclesiastes 10:7 (NIV)
7 I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves.
Ecclesiastes 10:8 (NIV)
8 Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.
Ecclesiastes 10:9 (NIV)
9 Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them; whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.
Ecclesiastes 10:10 (NIV)
10 If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed but skill will bring success.
Ecclesiastes 10:11 (CJB)
11 If a snake bites before it is charmed, the snake-charmer has no advantage.
Ecclesiastes 10:12 (CJB)
12 The words spoken by the wise bring them favor, but the lips of a fool swallow him up.
Ecclesiastes 10:13 (CJB)
13 What he says starts with foolishness and ends with wicked madness.
Ecclesiastes 10:14 (NIV)
14 and the fool multiplies words. No one knows what is coming– who can tell him what will happen after him?
Ecclesiastes 10:15 (NIV)
15 A fool’s work wearies him; he does not know the way to town.
Ecclesiastes 10:16 (NASB)-M
16 Woe to you, O land, whose king (behaves like an immature child following his appetites) and whose princes feast in the morning (for pleasure).
Ecclesiastes 10:17 (NASB)-M
17 Blessed are you, O land, whose king is of nobility and whose princes eat at the appropriate time—for strength for their work and not (for gluttony) and drunkenness.
Ecclesiastes 10:18 (NIV)
18 If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks.
Ecclesiastes 10:19 (CJB)
19 Parties are made for having a good time, wine adds cheer to life, and money has an answer for everything.
Ecclesiastes 10:20 (CJB)
20 Don’t insult the king, not even in your thoughts; and don’t insult the wealthy, not even in your bedroom; for a bird in the air might carry the news, a creature with wings might repeat what you said.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 11
Ecclesiastes 11:1 (CJB)
1 Send your resources out over the seas; eventually you will reap a return.
Ecclesiastes 11:2 (CJB)
2 Divide your merchandise into seven or eight shares, since you don’t know what disasters may come on the earth.
Ecclesiastes 11:3 (CJB)
3 If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth. Whether a tree falls toward the north or the south, the place where the tree falls is where it stays.
Ecclesiastes 11:4 (CJB)
4 He who keeps watching the wind will never sow; he who keeps looking at the clouds will never reap.
Ecclesiastes 11:5 (NIV)
5 As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
Ecclesiastes 11:6 (NASB)
6 Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.
Ecclesiastes 11:7 (CJB)
7 Then the light will be sweet, and it will be a pleasure to see the sun.
Ecclesiastes 11:8 (NIV)
8 However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 11:9 (CJB)
9 Young person, if you spend your youth only having fun, if you use your early years just to entertain yourself, if you follow your heart as you live your life, and let your eyes be your guide; understand that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.
Ecclesiastes 11:10 (CJB)
10 Therefore, remove anger from your heart; and keep from harming your body; for neither adolescence nor youth has any lasting value.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 12
Ecclesiastes 12:1 (CJB)
1 So remember your creator while you are young, before the evil days come, and the years approach when you will say, “They no longer give me pleasure”;
Ecclesiastes 12:2 (NASB)
2 before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain;
Ecclesiastes 12:3 (AMP)
3 In the day when the keepers of the house [the hands and the arms] tremble, and the strong men [the feet and the knees] bow themselves, and the grinders [the molar teeth] cease because they are few, and those who look out of the windows [the eyes] are darkened;
Ecclesiastes 12:4 (AMP)
4 When the doors [the lips] are shut in the streets and the sound of the grinding [of the teeth] is low, and one rises up at the voice of a bird and the crowing of a cock, and all the daughters of music [the voice and the ear] are brought low;
Ecclesiastes 12:5 (AMP)
5 Also when [the old] are afraid of danger from that which is high, and fears are in the way, and the almond tree [their white hair] blooms, and the grasshopper [a little thing] is a burden, and desire and appetite fail, because man goes to his everlasting home and the mourners go about the streets or marketplaces.
Ecclesiastes 12:6 (AMP)
6 [Remember your Creator earnestly now] before the silver cord [of life] is snapped apart, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern [and the whole circulatory system of the blood ceases to function];
Ecclesiastes 12:7 (AMP)
7 Then shall the dust [out of which God made man’s body] return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God Who gave it.
Ecclesiastes 12:8 (NIV)
8 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Everything is meaningless!”
Ecclesiastes 12:9 (NIV)
9 Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs.
Ecclesiastes 12:10 (NIV)
10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.
Ecclesiastes 12:11 (CJB)
11 The sayings of the wise are as sharp as goads, and those given by leaders of assemblies are like well-fixed nails; [in this case,] they are presented by a single shepherd.
Ecclesiastes 12:12 (NIV)
12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 (NIV)-M
13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man [and this is what being human is all about.]
Ecclesiastes 12:14 (NIV)
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.