Ecclesiastes 10:15
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
15 The toil of fools wears them out,
for they do not even know the way to town.
Jeremiah 50:4-5
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4 In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the people of Israel shall come, they and the people of Judah together; they shall come weeping as they seek the Lord their God.(A) 5 They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, and they shall come and join themselves to the Lord by an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.
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Isaiah 57:1
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Israel’s Futile Idolatry
57 The righteous perish,
and no one considers why;
the devout are taken away,
while no one understands
that it is due to evil that the righteous are taken away.(A)
Isaiah 35:8-10
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
8 A highway shall be there,[a]
and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,[b]
but it shall be for God’s people;[c]
no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.(A)
9 No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.(B)
10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.(C)
Ecclesiastes 10:3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
3 Even when fools walk on the road, they lack sense
and show to everyone that they are fools.(A)
Psalm 107:7
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7 he led them by a straight way,
until they reached an inhabited town.(A)
Psalm 107:4
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4 Some wandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to an inhabited town;(A)
Matthew 11:28-30
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28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.(A) 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.(B) 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
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Habakkuk 2:6
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The Woes of the Wicked
6 Shall not everyone taunt such people and, with mocking riddles, say about them,
“Alas for you who heap up what is not your own!”
How long will you load yourselves with goods taken in pledge?(A)
Isaiah 55:2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread
and your earnings for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.(A)
Isaiah 47:12-13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
12 Stand fast in your enchantments
and your many sorceries,
with which you have labored from your youth;
perhaps you may be able to succeed;
perhaps you may inspire terror.(A)
13 You are wearied with your many consultations;
let those who study[a] the heavens
stand up and save you,
those who gaze at the stars
and at each new moon predict
what[b] shall befall you.(B)
Isaiah 44:12-17
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
12 The blacksmith works it with a tool over the coals, shaping it with hammers and forging it with his strong arm; he becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint.(A) 13 The carpenter stretches a line, marks it out with a stylus, fashions it with planes, and marks it with a compass; he makes it in human form, with human beauty, to be set up in a shrine.(B) 14 He cuts down cedars or chooses a holm tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it can be used as fuel. Part of it he takes and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it, makes it a carved image and bows down before it.(C) 16 Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he roasts meat, eats it,[a] and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Ah, I am warm[b] by the fire!” 17 The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows down to it and worships it; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god!”(D)
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Ecclesiastes 10:10
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
10 If the iron is blunt and one does not whet the edge,
then more strength must be exerted,
but wisdom helps one to succeed.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.