Ecclesiastes 1-2
Christian Standard Bible
Everything Is Futile
1 The words of the Teacher,[a](A) son of David, king in Jerusalem.(B)
2 “Absolute futility,” says the Teacher.
“Absolute futility. Everything is futile.”(C)
3 What does a person gain for all his efforts
that he labors at under the sun?(D)
4 A generation goes and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.(E)
5 The sun rises and the sun sets;
panting, it hurries back to the place(F)
where it rises.
6 Gusting to the south,
turning to the north,
turning, turning, goes the wind,(G)
and the wind returns in its cycles.
7 All the streams flow to the sea,
yet the sea is never full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
8 All things[b] are wearisome,
more than anyone can say.
The eye is not satisfied by seeing(H)
or the ear filled with hearing.
9 What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Can one say about anything,
“Look, this is new”?
It has already existed in the ages before us.
11 There is no remembrance of those who[c] came before;(I)
and of those who will come after
there will also be no remembrance
by those who follow them.
The Limitations of Wisdom
12 I, the Teacher,(J) have been[d] king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my mind to examine(K) and explore through wisdom all that is done under heaven.(L) God has given people[e] this miserable task to keep them occupied.(M) 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.[f](N)
15 What is crooked cannot be straightened;(O)
what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I said to myself, “See, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me,(P) and my mind has thoroughly grasped[g] wisdom and knowledge.” 17 I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge,(Q) madness and folly;(R) I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind.(S)
18 For with much wisdom is much sorrow;(T)
as knowledge increases, grief increases.
The Emptiness of Pleasure
2 I said to myself, “Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure;(U) enjoy what is good.” But it turned out to be futile. 2 I said about laughter,(V) “It is madness,” and about pleasure, “What does this accomplish?” 3 I explored with my mind the pull of wine(W) on my body—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—and how to grasp folly,(X) until I could see what is good for people to do under heaven[h] during the few days of their lives.(Y)
The Emptiness of Possessions
4 I increased my achievements. I built houses(Z) and planted vineyards(AA) for myself. 5 I made gardens(AB) and parks for myself and planted every kind of fruit tree in them. 6 I constructed reservoirs for myself from which to irrigate a grove of flourishing trees.(AC) 7 I acquired male and female servants and had slaves who were born in my house.(AD) I also owned livestock—large herds and flocks—more than all who were before me in Jerusalem.(AE) 8 I also amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces.(AF) I gathered male and female singers for myself,(AG) and many concubines, the delights of men.[i][j] 9 So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem;(AH) my wisdom also remained with me. 10 All that my eyes desired, I did not deny them.(AI) I did not refuse myself any pleasure, for I took pleasure in all my struggles. This was my reward for all my struggles.(AJ) 11 When I considered all that I had accomplished[k] and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind.[l](AK) There was nothing to be gained under the sun.(AL)
The Relative Value of Wisdom
12 Then I turned to consider wisdom,(AM) madness, and folly, for what will the king’s successor[m] be like? He[n] will do what has already been done.(AN) 13 And I realized that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly, like the advantage of light over darkness.(AO)
14 The wise person has eyes in his head,
but the fool walks in darkness.(AP)
Yet I also knew that one fate comes to them both.(AQ) 15 So I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will also happen to me. Why then have I been overly wise?” (AR) And I said to myself that this is also futile. 16 For, just like the fool, there is no lasting remembrance of the wise,(AS) since in the days to come both will be forgotten. How is it that the wise person dies just like the fool? 17 Therefore, I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
The Emptiness of Work
18 I hated all my work that I labored at under the sun(AT) because I must leave it to the one who comes after me.(AU) 19 And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool?(AV) Yet he will take over all my work that I labored at skillfully under the sun. This too is futile. 20 So I began to give myself over[o] to despair concerning all my work that I had labored at under the sun. 21 When there is a person whose work was done with wisdom, knowledge, and skill,(AW) and he must give his portion to a person who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great wrong. 22 For what does a person get with all his work and all his efforts(AX) that he labors at under the sun? 23 For all his days are filled with grief, and his occupation is sorrowful;(AY) even at night, his mind does not rest.(AZ) This too is futile.
24 There is nothing better for a person than to eat, drink, and enjoy[p][q] his work.(BA) I have seen that even this is from God’s hand,(BB) 25 because who can eat and who can enjoy life[r] apart from him?[s] 26 For to the person who is pleasing in his sight, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy;(BC) but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and accumulating in order to give to the one who is pleasing in God’s sight.(BD) This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.(BE)
Footnotes
- 1:1 Or of Qoheleth, or of the Leader of the Assembly
- 1:8 Or words
- 1:11 Or of the things that
- 1:12 Or Teacher, was
- 1:13 Or given the descendants of Adam
- 1:14 Or a feeding on wind, or an affliction of spirit; also in v. 17
- 1:16 Or discerned
- 2:3 Two Hb mss, LXX, Syr read the sun
- 2:8 LXX, Theod, Syr read and male cupbearers and female cupbearers; Aq, Tg, Vg read a cup and cups; Hb obscure
- 2:8 Or many treasures that people delight in
- 2:11 Lit all my works that my hands had done
- 2:11 Or a feeding on wind, or an affliction of spirit; also in vv. 17,26
- 2:12 Lit the man who comes after the king
- 2:12 Some Hb mss read They
- 2:20 Lit And I turned to cause my heart
- 2:24 Syr, Tg; MT reads There is no good in a person who eats and drinks and enjoys
- 2:24 Lit and his soul sees good
- 2:25 LXX, Theod, Syr read can drink
- 2:25 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr read me
Romans 7
Christian Standard Bible
An Illustration from Marriage
7 Since I am speaking to those who know the law, brothers and sisters,(A) don’t you know that the law rules over someone as long as he lives? 2 For example, a married woman is legally bound to her husband while he lives.(B) But if her husband dies, she is released from the law regarding the husband. 3 So then, if she is married to another man while her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law. Then, if she is married to another man, she is not an adulteress.
4 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to death(C) in relation to the law(D) through the body of Christ(E) so that you may belong to another. You belong to him who was raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the flesh,(F) the sinful passions aroused through the law were working in us[a](G) to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the newness of the Spirit(H) and not in the old letter of the law.
Sin’s Use of the Law
7 What should we say then?(I) Is the law sin? Absolutely not!(J) But I would not have known sin if it were not for the law.(K) For example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet.[b](L) 8 And sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment,(M) produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law sin is dead.(N) 9 Once I was alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life again 10 and I died. The commandment that was meant for life(O) resulted in death for me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me,(P) and through it killed me. 12 So then, the law is holy,(Q) and the commandment is holy and just and good. 13 Therefore, did what is good become death to me? Absolutely not!(R) But sin, in order to be recognized as sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment, sin might become sinful beyond measure.
The Problem of Sin in Us
14 For we know that the law is spiritual,(S) but I am of the flesh,[c] sold(T) as a slave under sin.(U) 15 For I do not understand what I am doing,(V) because I do not practice what I want to do,(W) but I do what I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh.(X) For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. 19 For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one that does it, but it is the sin that lives in me. 21 So I discover this law:[d](Y) When I want to do what is good,[e] evil is present with me. 22 For in my inner self[f] I delight in God’s law,(Z) 23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body,[g](AA) waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?(AB) 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!(AC) So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.
Psalm 95
Christian Standard Bible
Psalm 95
Worship and Warning
1 Come, let’s shout joyfully to the Lord,
shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation!(A)
2 Let’s enter his presence with thanksgiving;
let’s shout triumphantly to him in song.(B)
3 For the Lord is a great God,
a great King above all gods.(C)
4 The depths of the earth are in his hand,
and the mountain peaks are his.(D)
5 The sea is his; he made it.
His hands formed the dry land.(E)
6 Come, let’s worship and bow down;
let’s kneel before the Lord our Maker.(F)
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep under his care.[a](G)
Today, if you hear his voice:(H)
8 Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the wilderness(I)
9 where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.(J)
10 For forty years I was disgusted with that generation;
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray;
they do not know my ways.”(K)
11 So I swore in my anger,
“They will not enter my rest.”(L)
Footnotes
- 95:7 Lit sheep of his hand
Proverbs 20:16-18
Christian Standard Bible
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