The Uselessness of Selfish Toil

Then I returned and considered all the (A)oppression that is done under the sun:

And look! The tears of the oppressed,
But they have no comforter—
[a]On the side of their oppressors there is power,
But they have no comforter.
(B)Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead,
More than the living who are still alive.
(C)Yet, better than both is he who has never existed,
Who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

The Vanity of Selfish Toil

Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

(D)The fool folds his hands
And consumes his own flesh.
(E)Better a handful with quietness
Than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind.

Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun:

There is one alone, without [b]companion:
He has neither son nor brother.
Yet there is no end to all his labors,
Nor is his (F)eye satisfied with riches.
But (G)he never asks,
“For whom do I toil and deprive myself of (H)good?”
This also is vanity and a [c]grave misfortune.

The Value of a Friend

Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Popularity Passes Away

13 Better a poor and wise youth
Than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more.
14 For he comes out of prison to be king,
Although [d]he was born poor in his kingdom.
15 I saw all the living who walk under the sun;
They were with the second youth who stands in his place.
16 There was no end of all the people [e]over whom he was made king;
Yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in him.
Surely this also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

Fear God, Keep Your Vows

Walk (I)prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather (J)than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.

Do not be (K)rash with your mouth,
And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.
For God is in heaven, and you on earth;
Therefore let your words (L)be few.
For a dream comes through much activity,
And (M)a fool’s voice is known by his many words.

(N)When you make a vow to God, do not delay to (O)pay it;
For He has no pleasure in fools.
Pay what you have vowed—
(P)Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.

Do not let your (Q)mouth cause your flesh to sin, (R)nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your [f]excuse and destroy the work of your hands? For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But (S)fear God.

The Vanity of Gain and Honor

If you (T)see the oppression of the poor, and the violent [g]perversion of justice and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter; for (U)high official watches over high official, and higher officials are over them.

Moreover the profit of the land is for all; even the king is served from the field.

10 He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver;
Nor he who loves abundance, with increase.
This also is vanity.

11 When goods increase,
They increase who eat them;
So what profit have the owners
Except to see them with their eyes?

12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet,
Whether he eats little or much;
But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep.

13 (V)There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun:
Riches kept for their owner to his hurt.
14 But those riches perish through [h]misfortune;
When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand.
15 (W)As he came from his mother’s womb, naked shall he return,
To go as he came;
And he shall take nothing from his labor
Which he may carry away in his hand.

16 And this also is a severe evil—
Just exactly as he came, so shall he go.
And (X)what profit has he (Y)who has labored for the wind?
17 All his days (Z)he also eats in darkness,
And he has much sorrow and sickness and anger.

18 Here is what I have seen: (AA)It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; (AB)for it is his [i]heritage. 19 As for (AC)every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his [j]heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the (AD)gift of God. 20 For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.

Wealth Is Not the Goal of Life

There(AE) is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: A man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, (AF)so that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires; (AG)yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity, and it is an evil [k]affliction.

If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or (AH)indeed he has no burial, I say that (AI)a [l]stillborn child is better than he— for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness. Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man, even if he lives a thousand years twice—but has not seen goodness. Do not all go to one (AJ)place?

(AK)All the labor of man is for his mouth,
And yet the soul is not satisfied.
For what more has the wise man than the fool?
What does the poor man have,
Who knows how to walk before the living?
Better is [m]the (AL)sight of the eyes than the wandering of [n]desire.
This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

10 Whatever one is, he has been named (AM)already,
For it is known that he is man;
(AN)And he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he.
11 Since there are many things that increase vanity,
How is man the better?

12 For who knows what is good for man in life, [o]all the days of his [p]vain life which he passes like (AO)a shadow? (AP)Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun?

Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 4:1 Lit. At the hand
  2. Ecclesiastes 4:8 Lit. a second
  3. Ecclesiastes 4:8 Lit. evil task
  4. Ecclesiastes 4:14 The youth
  5. Ecclesiastes 4:16 Lit. to all before whom he was to be
  6. Ecclesiastes 5:6 Lit. voice
  7. Ecclesiastes 5:8 wresting
  8. Ecclesiastes 5:14 Lit. bad business
  9. Ecclesiastes 5:18 Lit. portion
  10. Ecclesiastes 5:19 Lit. portion
  11. Ecclesiastes 6:2 disease
  12. Ecclesiastes 6:3 Or miscarriage
  13. Ecclesiastes 6:9 What the eyes see
  14. Ecclesiastes 6:9 Lit. soul
  15. Ecclesiastes 6:12 Lit. the number of the days
  16. Ecclesiastes 6:12 futile

18 This will be (A)written for the generation to come,
That (B)a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.
19 For He (C)looked down from the height of His sanctuary;
From heaven the Lord viewed the earth,
20 (D)To hear the groaning of the prisoner,
To release those appointed to death,
21 To (E)declare the name of the Lord in Zion,
And His praise in Jerusalem,
22 (F)When the peoples are gathered together,
And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.

23 He weakened my strength in the way;
He (G)shortened my days.
24 (H)I said, “O my God,
Do not take me away in the midst of my days;
(I)Your years are throughout all generations.
25 (J)Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
26 (K)They will perish, but You will [a]endure;
Yes, they will all grow old like a garment;
Like a cloak You will change them,
And they will be changed.
27 But (L)You are the same,
And Your years will have no end.
28 (M)The children of Your servants will continue,
And their descendants will be established before You.”

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 102:26 continue

(A)A wise man is strong,
Yes, a man of knowledge increases strength;
(B)For by wise counsel you will wage your own war,
And in a multitude of counselors there is safety.

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A Pattern of Self-Denial

Am (A)I not an apostle? Am I not free? (B)Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? (C)Are you not my work in the Lord? If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are (D)the [a]seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

My defense to those who examine me is this: (E)Do we have no [b]right to eat and drink? Do we have no right to take along [c]a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, (F)the brothers of the Lord, and (G)Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I (H)who have no right to refrain from working? Who ever (I)goes to war at his own expense? Who (J)plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who (K)tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock?

Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, (L)“You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about? 10 Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that (M)he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. 11 (N)If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? 12 If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more?

(O)Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things (P)lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. 13 (Q)Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the (R)temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? 14 Even so (S)the Lord has commanded (T)that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.

15 But (U)I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me; for (V)it would be better for me to die than that anyone should make my boasting void. 16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for (W)necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this willingly, (X)I have a reward; but if against my will, (Y)I have been entrusted with a stewardship. 18 What is my reward then? That (Z)when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel [d]of Christ without charge, that I (AA)may not abuse my authority in the gospel.

Serving All Men

19 For though I am (AB)free from all men, (AC)I have made myself a servant to all, (AD)that I might win the more; 20 and (AE)to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the [e]law, that I might win those who are under the law; 21 (AF)to (AG)those who are without law, as without law (AH)(not being without [f]law toward God, but under [g]law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; 22 (AI)to the weak I became [h]as weak, that I might win the weak. (AJ)I have become all things to all men, (AK)that I might by all means save some. 23 Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.

Striving for a Crown

24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? (AL)Run in such a way that you may [i]obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize [j]is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for (AM)an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: (AN)not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 (AO)But I discipline my body and (AP)bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become (AQ)disqualified.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 9:2 certification
  2. 1 Corinthians 9:4 authority
  3. 1 Corinthians 9:5 Lit. a sister, a wife
  4. 1 Corinthians 9:18 NU omits of Christ
  5. 1 Corinthians 9:20 NU adds though not being myself under the law
  6. 1 Corinthians 9:21 NU God’s law
  7. 1 Corinthians 9:21 NU Christ’s law
  8. 1 Corinthians 9:22 NU omits as
  9. 1 Corinthians 9:24 win
  10. 1 Corinthians 9:25 exercises self-control

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