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Ecclesiastes 7:15
New Living Translation
Ecclesiastes 7:15
New Living Translation
The Limits of Human Wisdom
15 I have seen everything in this meaningless life, including the death of good young people and the long life of wicked people.
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Ecclesiastes 7:15
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 7:15
New International Version
15 In this meaningless life(A) of mine I have seen both of these:
the righteous perishing in their righteousness,
and the wicked living long in their wickedness.(B)
Ecclesiastes 8:12-14
New Living Translation
Ecclesiastes 8:12-14
New Living Translation
12 But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear God will be better off. 13 The wicked will not prosper, for they do not fear God. Their days will never grow long like the evening shadows.
14 And this is not all that is meaningless in our world. In this life, good people are often treated as though they were wicked, and wicked people are often treated as though they were good. This is so meaningless!
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Ecclesiastes 8:12-14
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 8:12-14
New International Version
12 Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better(A) with those who fear God,(B) who are reverent before him.(C) 13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God,(D) it will not go well with them, and their days(E) will not lengthen like a shadow.
14 There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve.(F) This too, I say, is meaningless.(G)
Matthew 23:34-35
New Living Translation
Matthew 23:34-35
New Living Translation
34 “Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city. 35 As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of all godly people of all time—from the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you killed in the Temple between the sanctuary and the altar.
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Matthew 23:34-35
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Matthew 23:34-35
New International Version
34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify;(A) others you will flog in your synagogues(B) and pursue from town to town.(C) 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel(D) to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah,(E) whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.(F)
Ecclesiastes 6:12
New Living Translation
Ecclesiastes 6:12
New Living Translation
12 In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can best be spent? Our lives are like a shadow. Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone?
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Ecclesiastes 6:12
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 6:12
New International Version
12 For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days(A) they pass through like a shadow?(B) Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?
Psalm 73:3-13
New Living Translation
Psalm 73:3-13
New Living Translation
3 For I envied the proud
when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness.
4 They seem to live such painless lives;
their bodies are so healthy and strong.
5 They don’t have troubles like other people;
they’re not plagued with problems like everyone else.
6 They wear pride like a jeweled necklace
and clothe themselves with cruelty.
7 These fat cats have everything
their hearts could ever wish for!
8 They scoff and speak only evil;
in their pride they seek to crush others.
9 They boast against the very heavens,
and their words strut throughout the earth.
10 And so the people are dismayed and confused,
drinking in all their words.
11 “What does God know?” they ask.
“Does the Most High even know what’s happening?”
12 Look at these wicked people—
enjoying a life of ease while their riches multiply.
13 Did I keep my heart pure for nothing?
Did I keep myself innocent for no reason?
Psalm 73:3-13
New International Version
Psalm 73:3-13
New International Version
4 They have no struggles;
their bodies are healthy and strong.[a]
5 They are free(C) from common human burdens;
they are not plagued by human ills.
6 Therefore pride(D) is their necklace;(E)
they clothe themselves with violence.(F)
7 From their callous hearts(G) comes iniquity[b];
their evil imaginations have no limits.
8 They scoff, and speak with malice;(H)
with arrogance(I) they threaten oppression.(J)
9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
and their tongues take possession of the earth.
10 Therefore their people turn to them
and drink up waters in abundance.[c]
11 They say, “How would God know?
Does the Most High know anything?”
Footnotes
- Psalm 73:4 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text struggles at their death; / their bodies are healthy
- Psalm 73:7 Syriac (see also Septuagint); Hebrew Their eyes bulge with fat
- Psalm 73:10 The meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.
Ecclesiastes 9:1-2
New Living Translation
Ecclesiastes 9:1-2
New Living Translation
Death Comes to All
9 This, too, I carefully explored: Even though the actions of godly and wise people are in God’s hands, no one knows whether God will show them favor. 2 The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether righteous or wicked, good or bad,[a] ceremonially clean or unclean, religious or irreligious. Good people receive the same treatment as sinners, and people who make promises to God are treated like people who don’t.
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- 9:2 As in Greek and Syriac versions and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew lacks or bad.
Ecclesiastes 9:1-2
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 9:1-2
New International Version
A Common Destiny for All
9 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 one knows whether love or hate awaits them.(A) 2 All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,[a] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.
As it is with the good,
so with the sinful;
as it is with those who take oaths,
so with those who are afraid to take them.(B)
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 9:2 Septuagint (Aquila), Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew does not have and the bad.
Acts 7:52
New Living Translation
Acts 7:52
New Living Translation
52 Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered.
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Acts 7:52
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Acts 7:52
New International Version
52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute?(A) They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him(B)—
Jeremiah 12:1-2
New Living Translation
Jeremiah 12:1-2
New Living Translation
Jeremiah Questions the Lord’s Justice
12 Lord, you always give me justice
when I bring a case before you.
So let me bring you this complaint:
Why are the wicked so prosperous?
Why are evil people so happy?
2 You have planted them,
and they have taken root and prospered.
Your name is on their lips,
but you are far from their hearts.
Jeremiah 12:1-2
New International Version
Jeremiah 12:1-2
New International Version
Jeremiah’s Complaint
12 You are always righteous,(A) Lord,
when I bring a case(B) before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:(C)
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?(D)
Why do all the faithless live at ease?
2 You have planted(E) them, and they have taken root;
they grow and bear fruit.(F)
You are always on their lips
but far from their hearts.(G)
Isaiah 65:20
New Living Translation
Isaiah 65:20
New Living Translation
20 “No longer will babies die when only a few days old.
No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life.
No longer will people be considered old at one hundred!
Only the cursed will die that young!
Isaiah 65:20
New International Version
Isaiah 65:20
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 9:9
New Living Translation
Ecclesiastes 9:9
New Living Translation
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.
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Ecclesiastes 9:9
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Ecclesiastes 9:9
New International Version
9 Enjoy life with your wife,(A) whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot(B) in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 5:16-17
New Living Translation
Ecclesiastes 5:16-17
New Living Translation
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. 17 Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud—frustrated, discouraged, and angry.
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Ecclesiastes 5:16-17
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Ecclesiastes 5:16-17
New International Version
16 This too is a grievous evil:
As everyone comes, so they depart,
and what do they gain,
since they toil for the wind?(A)
17 All their days they eat in darkness,
with great frustration, affliction and anger.
Ecclesiastes 3:16
New Living Translation
Ecclesiastes 3:16
New Living Translation
The Injustices of Life
16 I also noticed that under the sun there is evil in the courtroom. Yes, even the courts of law are corrupt!
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Ecclesiastes 3:16
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 3:16
New International Version
16 And I saw something else under the sun:
In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
in the place of justice—wickedness was there.
Ecclesiastes 2:23
New Living Translation
Ecclesiastes 2:23
New Living Translation
23 Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night their minds cannot rest. It is all meaningless.
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Ecclesiastes 2:23
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 2:23
New International Version
23 All their days their work is grief and pain;(A) even at night their minds do not rest.(B) This too is meaningless.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.