The Futility of All Endeavors

1 The words of the ^(A)Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

The Futility of Wisdom

¹² I, the ^(J)Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³ And I ^(K)set my ^[i]mind to seek and ^(L)explore by wisdom about everything that has been done under heaven. It is a ^[j](M)sorry task with which God has given the sons of mankind to be troubled. ¹⁴ I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is ^(N)futility and striving after wind. ¹⁵ What is ^(O)crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶ I ^[k]said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased ^(P)wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my ^[l]mind has observed ^[m]a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷ And I ^(Q)applied my ^[n]mind to know wisdom and to ^(R)know insanity and foolishness; I realized that this also is ^(S)striving after wind. ¹⁸ Because ^(T)in much wisdom there is much grief; and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.

Serve God Willingly

5 ^(A)Therefore, I urge elders among you, as your ^(B)fellow elder and a ^(C)witness of the sufferings of Christ, and one who is also a ^[a](D)fellow partaker of the glory that is to be revealed: ² shepherd ^(E)the flock of God among you, exercising oversight, ^(F)not under compulsion but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and ^(G)not ^[b]with greed but with eagerness; ³ nor yet as ^(H)domineering over ^[c]those assigned to your care, but by ^[d]proving to be ^[e](I)examples to the flock. ⁴ And when the Chief ^(J)Shepherd appears, you will receive the ^(K)unfading ^[f](L)crown of glory. ^5 (M)You ^[g]younger men, likewise, ^(N)be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with ^(O)humility toward one another, because ^(P)God is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.

⁶ Therefore ^(Q)humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time, ⁷ having cast all your ^(R)anxiety on Him, because He cares about you. ^8 (S)Be of sober spirit, ^(T)be on the alert. Your adversary, ^(U)the devil, prowls around like a roaring ^(V)lion, seeking someone to devour. ^9 [h](W)So resist him, ^(X)firm in your faith, knowing that ^(Y)the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your ^[i]brothers and sisters who are in the world. ¹⁰ After you have suffered ^(Z)for a little while, the ^(AA)God of all grace, who ^(AB)called you to His ^(AC)eternal glory in Christ, will Himself ^(AD)perfect, ^(AE)confirm, strengthen, and establish you. ^11 (AF)To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.

¹² Through ^(AG)Silvanus, our faithful brother ^[j](for so I regard him), ^(AH)I have written to you briefly, ^[k]exhorting and testifying that this is ^(AI)the true grace of God. ^(AJ)Stand firm in it! ¹³ She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son, ^(AK)Mark. ^14 (AL)Greet one another with a kiss of love.

^(AM)Peace be to you all who are in Christ.

The Futility of Pleasure and Possessions

2 I said ^[a]to myself, “Come now, I will test you with ^(A)pleasure. So ^[b]enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility. ^2 (B)I said of laughter, “It is senseless,” and of pleasure, “What does this accomplish?” ³ I explored with my ^[c]mind how to ^(C)refresh my body with wine while my ^[d]mind was guiding me wisely; and how to seize ^(D)foolishness, until I could see ^(E)what good there is for the sons of mankind ^[e]to do under heaven for the few ^[f]years of their lives. ⁴ I enlarged my works: I ^(F)built houses for myself, I planted ^(G)vineyards for myself; ⁵ I made ^(H)gardens and ^(I)parks for myself, and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees; ⁶ I made ^(J)ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees. ⁷ I bought male and female slaves, and I had ^[g](K)slaves born at home. I also possessed flocks and ^(L)herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. ⁸ I also amassed for myself silver and ^(M)gold, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself ^(N)male and female singers, and the pleasures of the sons of mankind: many concubines.

⁹ Then I became ^(O)great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. ^10 (P)All that my eyes desired, I did not refuse them. I did not restrain my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor; and this was my ^(Q)reward for all my labor. ¹¹ So I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had ^[h]exerted, and behold, all was ^(R)futility and striving after wind, and there was ^(S)no benefit under the sun.

Wisdom Surpasses Foolishness

¹² So I turned to ^(T)consider wisdom, insanity, and foolishness; for what will the man do who will come after the king, except ^(U)what has already been done? ¹³ Then I saw that ^(V)wisdom surpasses foolishness as light surpasses darkness. ¹⁴ The wise person’s eyes are in his head, but the ^(W)fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that ^(X)one and the same fate happens to ^[i]both of them. ¹⁵ Then I said ^[j]to myself, “^(Y)As is the fate of the fool, it will also happen to me. ^(Z)Why then have I been extremely wise?” So ^[k]I said to myself, “This too is futility.” ¹⁶ For there is ^(AA)no ^[l]lasting remembrance of the wise, along with the fool, since in the coming days everything will ^[m]soon be forgotten. And ^(AB)how the wise and the fool alike die! ¹⁷ So I ^(AC)hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was ^[n]unhappy to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.

The Futility of Labor

¹⁸ So I hated ^(AD)all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, because I must ^(AE)leave it to the man who will come after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether he will be wise or ^(AF)a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is ^(AG)futility. ²⁰ Therefore I ^[o]completely despaired over all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun. ²¹ When there is a person who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and ^(AH)skill, and then ^(AI)gives his ^[p]legacy to one who has not labored for it; this too is futility and a great evil. ²² For what does a person get in ^(AJ)all his labor and in ^[q]his striving with which he labors under the sun? ²³ Because all his days his activity is painful and ^(AK)irritating; even at night his ^[r]mind ^(AL)does not rest. This too is futility.

The Incarnate Word

1 What was ^(A)from the beginning, what we have ^(B)heard, what we have ^(C)seen with our eyes, what we ^(D)have looked at and ^(E)touched with our hands, concerning the ^(F)Word of Life— ² and ^(G)the life was revealed, and we have ^(H)seen and ^(I)testify and proclaim to you ^(J)the eternal life, which was ^(K)with the Father and was ^(L)revealed to us— ³ what we have ^(M)seen and ^(N)heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our ^(O)fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. ^4 (P)These things we write, so that our ^(Q)joy may be made complete.

God Is Light

^5 (R)This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that ^(S)God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. ^6 (T)If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we ^(U)lie and ^(V)do not practice the truth; ⁷ but if we ^(W)walk in the Light as ^(X)He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and ^(Y)the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. ^8 (Z)If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the ^(AA)truth is not in us. ^9 (AB)If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and ^(AC)cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ^10 (AD)If we say that we have not sinned, we ^(AE)make Him a liar and ^(AF)His word is not in us.

Christ Is Our Advocate

2 ^(AG)My little children, I am ^(AH)writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, ^(AI)we have an ^[a](AJ)Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ² and He Himself is ^(AK)the ^[b]propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also ^(AL)for the sins of the whole world.

^3 (AM)By this we know that we have come to ^(AN)know Him, if we ^(AO)keep His commandments. ⁴ The one who says, “^(AP)I have come to ^(AQ)know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a ^(AR)liar, and ^(AS)the truth is not in him; ⁵ but whoever ^(AT)follows His word, in him the ^(AU)love of God has truly been perfected. ^(AV)By this we know that we are in Him: ⁶ the one who says that he ^(AW)remains in Him ^(AX)ought, himself also, walk just as He walked.