Ecclesiastes 9

New King James Version

Death Comes to All

9 For I ^[a]considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: ^(A)that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them. ²^(B)All things come alike to all:

One event happens to the righteous and the wicked;
To the ^[b]good, the clean, and the unclean;
To him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice.
As is the good, so is the sinner;
He who takes an oath as he who fears an oath.

³This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. ⁴But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

⁵For the living know that they will die;
But ^(C)the dead know nothing,
And they have no more reward,
For ^(D)the memory of them is forgotten.
⁶Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished;
Nevermore will they have a share
In anything done under the sun.

⁷Go, ^(E)eat your bread with joy,
And drink your wine with a merry heart;
For God has already accepted your works.
⁸Let your garments always be white,
And let your head lack no oil.

⁹^[c]Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; ^(F)for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.

¹⁰^(G)Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your ^(H)might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

¹¹I returned ^(I)and saw under the sun that—

The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time and ^(J)chance happen to them all.
¹²For ^(K)man also does not know his time:
Like fish taken in a cruel net,
Like birds caught in a snare,
So the sons of men are ^(L)snared in an evil time,
When it falls suddenly upon them.

Wisdom Superior to Folly

¹³This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me: ¹⁴^(M)There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great ^[d]snares around it. ¹⁵Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man.

¹⁶Then I said:

“Wisdom is better than ^(N)strength.
Nevertheless ^(O)the poor man’s wisdom is despised,
And his words are not heard.
¹⁷Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard
Rather than the shout of a ruler of fools.
¹⁸Wisdom is better than weapons of war;
But ^(P)one sinner destroys much good.”

Footnotes

Ecclesiastes 9:1 Lit. put
Ecclesiastes 9:2 LXX, Syr., Vg. good and bad,
Ecclesiastes 9:9 Lit. See life
Ecclesiastes 9:14 LXX, Syr., Vg. bulwarks

2 John

New King James Version

Greeting the Elect Lady

¹The Elder,

To the ^[a]elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known ^(A)the truth, ²because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever:

³^(B)Grace, mercy, and peace will be with ^[b]you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

Walk in Christ’s Commandments

⁴I ^(C)rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father. ⁵And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: ^(D)that we love one another. ⁶^(E)This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that ^(F)as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.

Beware of Antichrist Deceivers

⁷For ^(G)many deceivers have gone out into the world ^(H)who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. ^(I)This is a deceiver and an antichrist. ⁸^(J)Look to yourselves, ^(K)that ^[c]we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.

⁹^(L)Whoever ^[d]transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰If anyone comes to you and ^(M)does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; ¹¹for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

John’s Farewell Greeting

¹²^(N)Having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, ^(O)that our joy may be full.

¹³^(P)The children of your elect sister greet you. Amen.

Footnotes

2 John 1:1 chosen
2 John 1:3 NU, M us
2 John 1:8 NU you
2 John 1:9 NU goes ahead

Ecclesiastes 10

New King James Version

Wisdom and Folly

10 Dead^[a] flies ^[b]putrefy the perfumer’s ointment,
And cause it to give off a foul odor;
So does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor.
²A wise man’s heart is at his right hand,
But a fool’s heart at his left.
³Even when a fool walks along the way,
He lacks wisdom,
^(A)And he shows everyone that he is a fool.
⁴If the spirit of the ruler rises against you,
^(B)Do not leave your post;
For ^(C)conciliation^[c] pacifies great offenses.

⁵There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
As an error proceeding from the ruler:
⁶^(D)Folly is set in ^[d]great dignity,
While the rich sit in a lowly place.
⁷I have seen servants ^(E)on horses,
While princes walk on the ground like servants.

⁸^(F)He who digs a pit will fall into it,
And whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a serpent.
⁹He who quarries stones may be hurt by them,
And he who splits wood may be endangered by it.
¹⁰If the ax is dull,
And one does not sharpen the edge,
Then he must use more strength;
But wisdom ^[e]brings success.

¹¹A serpent may bite ^(G)when it is not charmed;
The ^[f]babbler is no different.
¹²^(H)The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious,
But ^(I)the lips of a fool shall swallow him up;
¹³The words of his mouth begin with foolishness,
And the end of his talk is raving madness.
¹⁴^(J)A fool also multiplies words.
No man knows what is to be;
Who can tell him ^(K)what will be after him?
¹⁵The labor of fools wearies them,
For they do not even know how to go to the city!

¹⁶^(L)Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,
And your princes feast in the morning!
¹⁷Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles,
And your ^(M)princes feast at the proper time—
For strength and not for drunkenness!
¹⁸Because of laziness the ^[g]building decays,
And ^(N)through idleness of hands the house leaks.
¹⁹A feast is made for laughter,
And ^(O)wine makes merry;
But money answers everything.

²⁰^(P)Do not curse the king, even in your thought;
Do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom;
For a bird of the air may carry your voice,
And a bird in flight may tell the matter.

Footnotes

Ecclesiastes 10:1 Lit. Flies of death
Ecclesiastes 10:1 Tg., Vg. omit putrefy
Ecclesiastes 10:4 Lit. healing, health
Ecclesiastes 10:6 exalted positions
Ecclesiastes 10:10 Lit. is a successful advantage
Ecclesiastes 10:11 Lit. master of the tongue
Ecclesiastes 10:18 Lit. rafters sink

3 John

New King James Version

Greeting to Gaius

¹The Elder,

To the beloved Gaius, ^(A)whom I love in truth:

²Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. ³For I ^(B)rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. ⁴I have no greater ^(C)joy than to hear that ^(D)my children walk in ^[a]truth.

Gaius Commended for Generosity

⁵Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren ^[b]and for strangers, ⁶who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well, ⁷because they went forth for His name’s sake, ^(E)taking nothing from the Gentiles. ⁸We therefore ought to ^(F)receive^[c] such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth.

Diotrephes and Demetrius

⁹I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. ¹⁰Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, ^(G)prating^[d] against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church.

¹¹Beloved, ^(H)do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. ^(I)He who does good is of God, ^[e]but he who does evil has not seen ^(J)God.

¹²Demetrius ^(K)has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself. And we also ^[f]bear witness, ^(L)and you know that our testimony is true.

Farewell Greeting

¹³^(M)I had many things to write, but I do not wish to write to you with pen and ink; ¹⁴but I hope to see you shortly, and we shall speak face to face.

Peace to you. Our friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.