Ecclesiastes 7-8
Christian Standard Bible
Wise Sayings
7 A good name is better than fine perfume,(A)
and the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.(B)
2 It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
since that is the end of all mankind,
and the living should take it to heart.(C)
3 Grief is better than laughter,
for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad.(D)
4 The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure.
5 It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person
than to listen to the song of fools,(E)
6 for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot,(F)
so is the laughter of the fool.
This too is futile.
7 Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool,(G)
and a bribe corrupts the mind.(H)
8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning;
a patient spirit is better than a proud spirit.(I)
9 Don’t let your spirit rush to be angry,
for anger abides in the heart of fools.(J)
10 Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these?”(K)
since it is not wise of you to ask this.
11 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance
and an advantage to those who see the sun,
12 because wisdom is protection as silver is protection;
but the advantage of knowledge
is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.(L)
13 Consider the work of God,(M)
for who can straighten out
what he has made crooked?(N)
14 In the day of prosperity be joyful,(O) but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other,(P) so that no one can discover anything that will come after him.
Avoiding Extremes
15 In my futile life[a] I have seen everything:(Q) someone righteous perishes in spite of his righteousness,(R) and someone wicked lives long in spite of his evil.(S) 16 Don’t be excessively righteous, and don’t be overly wise.(T) Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Don’t be excessively wicked, and don’t be foolish. Why should you die before your time?(U) 18 It is good that you grasp the one and do not let the other slip from your hand. For the one who fears God will end up with both of them.
19 Wisdom makes the wise person stronger
than ten rulers of a city.(V)
20 There is certainly no one righteous on the earth
who does good and never sins.(W)
21 Don’t pay attention[b] to everything people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you,(X) 22 for in your heart you know that many times you yourself have cursed others.
What the Teacher Found
23 I have tested all this by wisdom. I resolved, “I will be wise,” but it was beyond me. 24 What exists is beyond reach and very deep.(Y) Who can discover it? 25 I turned my thoughts to know, explore, and examine wisdom(Z) and an explanation for things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity and folly is madness. 26 And I find more bitter than death(AA) the woman who is a trap:(AB) her heart a net and her hands chains. The one who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be captured by her. 27 “Look,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find out the explanation, 28 which my soul continually searches for but does not find: I found one person in a thousand, but none of those was a woman.(AC) 29 Only see this: I have discovered that God made people upright,(AD) but they pursued many schemes.”
Wisdom, Authorities, and Inequities
8 Who is like the wise person, and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A person’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.(AE)
2 Keep[c] the king’s command because of your oath made before God.(AF) 3 Do not be in a hurry; leave his presence,(AG) and don’t persist in a bad cause, since he will do whatever he wants. 4 For the king’s word is authoritative, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?” (AH) 5 The one who keeps a command will not experience anything harmful,(AI) and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure. 6 For every activity there is a right time and procedure,(AJ) even though a person’s troubles are heavy on him. 7 Yet no one knows what will happen(AK) because who can tell him what will happen? 8 No one has authority over the wind[d] to restrain it,(AL) and there is no authority over the day of death;(AM) no one is discharged during battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape. 9 All this I have seen, applying my mind to all the work that is done under the sun, at a time when one person has authority over another to his harm.
10 In such circumstances, I saw the wicked buried. They came and went from the holy place,(AN) and they were praised[e] in the city where they did those things. This too is futile. 11 Because the sentence against an evil act is not carried out quickly,(AO) the heart of people is filled with the desire to commit evil. 12 Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life,(AP) I also know that it will go well with God-fearing people,(AQ) for they are reverent before him. 13 However, it will not go well with the wicked,(AR) and they will not lengthen their days like a shadow,(AS) for they are not reverent before God.
14 There is a futility that is done on the earth: there are righteous people who get what the actions of the wicked deserve,(AT) and there are wicked people who get what the actions of the righteous deserve.(AU) I say that this too is futile. 15 So I commended enjoyment because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy himself,(AV) for this will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.
16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom(AW) and to observe the activity that is done on the earth (even though one’s eyes do not close in sleep day or night), 17 I observed all the work of God and concluded that a person is unable to discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though a person labors hard to explore it, he cannot find it;(AX) even if a wise person claims to know it, he is unable to discover it.
Romans 9:1-29
Christian Standard Bible
Israel’s Rejection of Christ
9 I speak the truth in Christ(A)—I am not lying; my conscience testifies to me through the Holy Spirit[a]— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish(B) that I myself were cursed(C) and cut off[b] from Christ for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. 4 They are Israelites,(D) and to them belong the adoption,(E) the glory,(F) the covenants,(G) the giving of the law,(H) the temple service,(I) and the promises.(J) 5 The ancestors are theirs,(K) and from them, by physical descent,[c] came the Christ,(L) who is God(M) over all,(N) praised forever.[d](O) Amen.
God’s Gracious Election of Israel
6 Now it is not as though the word of God has failed,(P) because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.(Q) 7 Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children are his descendants.[e](R) On the contrary, your offspring will be traced[f] through Isaac.[g](S) 8 That is, it is not the children by physical descent[h] who are God’s children,(T) but the children of the promise(U) are considered to be the offspring. 9 For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.[i](V) 10 And not only that,(W) but Rebekah conceived children(X) through one man, our father Isaac. 11 For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand(Y)— 12 not from works but from the one who calls—she was told, The older will serve the younger.[j](Z) 13 As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.[k](AA)
God’s Selection Is Just
14 What should we say then?(AB) Is there injustice with God?(AC) Absolutely not!(AD) 15 For he tells Moses, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.[l](AE) 16 So then, it does not depend on human will or effort(AF) but on God who shows mercy.(AG) 17 For the Scripture tells Pharaoh, I raised you up for this reason so that I may display my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed in the whole earth.[m](AH) 18 So then, he has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy and he hardens whom he wants to harden.(AI)
19 You will say to me,(AJ) therefore, “Why then does he still find fault?(AK) For who resists his will?” (AL) 20 On the contrary, who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?(AM) Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” (AN) 21 Or has the potter no right over the clay,(AO) to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor? 22 And what if God, wanting to display his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience(AP) objects of wrath prepared for destruction?(AQ) 23 And what if he did this to make known the riches of his glory(AR) on objects of mercy(AS) that he prepared beforehand for glory(AT)— 24 on us, the ones he also called,(AU) not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?(AV) 25 As it[n] also says in Hosea,
I will call Not My People, My People,
and she who is Unloved, Beloved.[o](AW)
26 And it will be in the place where they were told,
you are not my people,
there they will be called sons of the living God.[p](AX)
27 But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel,
Though the number of Israelites
is like the sand of the sea,(AY)
only the remnant will be saved;(AZ)
28 since the Lord will execute his sentence
completely and decisively on the earth.[q][r] (BA)
29 And just as Isaiah predicted:
If the Lord of Armies had not left us offspring,(BB)
we would have become like Sodom,
and we would have been made like Gomorrah.[s](BC)
Footnotes
- 9:1 Or testifying with me by the Holy Spirit
- 9:3 Lit to be anathema
- 9:5 Lit them, according to the flesh
- 9:5 Or the Messiah, the one who is over all, the God who is blessed forever, or Messiah. God, who is over all, be blessed forever
- 9:7 Lit seed
- 9:7 Lit called
- 9:7 Gn 21:12
- 9:8 Lit children of the flesh
- 9:9 Gn 18:10,14
- 9:12 Gn 25:23
- 9:13 Mal 1:2–3
- 9:15 Ex 33:19
- 9:17 Ex 9:16
- 9:25 Or he
- 9:25 Hs 2:23
- 9:26 Hs 1:10
- 9:28 Or land
- 9:27–28 Is 10:22–23; 28:22; Hs 1:10
- 9:29 Is 1:9
Psalm 97:1-7
Christian Standard Bible
Psalm 97
The Majestic King
1 The Lord reigns! Let the earth rejoice;
let the many coasts and islands be glad.(A)
2 Clouds and total darkness surround him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.(B)
3 Fire goes before him
and burns up his foes on every side.(C)
4 His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.(D)
5 The mountains melt like wax
at the presence of the Lord—
at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.(E)
7 All who serve carved images,
those who boast in worthless idols, will be put to shame.(H)
All the gods[a] must worship him.(I)
Footnotes
- 97:7 LXX, Syr read All his angels; Heb 1:6
Proverbs 20:24-25
Christian Standard Bible
24 Even a courageous person’s steps are determined by the Lord,(A)
so how can anyone understand his own way?
25 It is a trap for anyone to dedicate something rashly
and later to reconsider his vows.(B)
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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