The Futility of All Endeavor

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 ^[n]mind to seek and ^(L)explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is ^[o]a grievous ^(M)task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. ¹⁴ I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is ^[p](N)vanity and striving after wind. ¹⁵ What is ^(O)crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶ I ^[q]said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased ^(P)wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my ^[r]mind has observed ^[s]a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷ And I ^(Q)set my ^[t]mind to know wisdom and to ^(R)know madness and folly; 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.

The Futility of Pleasure and Possessions

2 I said ^[u]to myself, “Come now, I will test you with ^(U)pleasure. So ^[v]enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility. ^2 (V)I said of laughter, “It is madness,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?” ³ I explored with my ^[w]mind how to ^(W)stimulate my body with wine while my ^[x]mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of ^(X)folly, until I could see ^(Y)what good there is for the sons of men ^[y]to do under heaven the few ^[z]years of their lives. ⁴ I enlarged my works: I ^(Z)built houses for myself, I planted ^(AA)vineyards for myself; ⁵ I made ^(AB)gardens and ^(AC)parks for myself and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees; ⁶ I made ^(AD)ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees. ⁷ I bought male and female slaves and I had ^[aa](AE)homeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and ^(AF)herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. ⁸ Also, I collected for myself silver and ^(AG)gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself ^(AH)male and female singers and the pleasures of men—many concubines.

⁹ Then I became ^(AI)great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. ^10 (AJ)All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my ^(AK)reward for all my labor. ¹¹ Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had ^[ab]exerted, and behold all was ^[ac](AL)vanity and striving after wind and there was ^(AM)no profit under the sun.

Wisdom Excels Folly

¹² So I turned to ^(AN)consider wisdom, madness and folly; for what will the man do who will come after the king except ^(AO)what has already been done? ¹³ And I saw that ^(AP)wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. ¹⁴ The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the ^(AQ)fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that ^(AR)one fate befalls them both. ¹⁵ Then I said ^[ad]to myself, “^(AS)As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. ^(AT)Why then have I been extremely wise?” So ^[ae]I said to myself, “This too is vanity.” ¹⁶ For there is ^(AU)no ^[af]lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And ^(AV)how the wise man and the fool alike die! ¹⁷ So I ^(AW)hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was ^[ag]grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.

The Futility of Labor

¹⁸ Thus I hated ^(AX)all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must ^(AY)leave it to the man who will come after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether he will be a wise man or ^(AZ)a fool? Yet he will have ^[ah]control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is ^(BA)vanity. ²⁰ Therefore I ^[ai]completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun. ²¹ When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and ^(BB)skill, then he ^(BC)gives his ^[aj]legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil. ²² For what does a man get in ^(BD)all his labor and in ^[ak]his striving with which he labors under the sun? ²³ Because all his days his task is painful and ^(BE)grievous; even at night his ^[al]mind ^(BF)does not rest. This too is vanity.

²⁴ There is ^(BG)nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and ^[am]tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is ^(BH)from the hand of God. ²⁵ For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without ^[an]Him? ²⁶ For to a person who is good in His sight ^(BI)He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may ^(BJ)give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is ^(BK)vanity and striving after wind.

A Time for Everything

3 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a ^(BL)time for every ^[ao]event under heaven—

^9 (BT)What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils? ¹⁰ I have seen the ^(BU)task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Man

¹¹ He has ^(BV)made everything ^[ap]appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, ^[aq]yet so that man ^(BW)will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

¹² I know that there is ^(BX)nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; ¹³ moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—it is the ^(BY)gift of God. ¹⁴ I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should ^[ar](BZ)fear Him. ¹⁵ That ^(CA)which is has been already and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by.

¹⁶ Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is ^(CB)wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. ¹⁷ I said ^[as]to myself, “^(CC)God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,” for a ^(CD)time for every ^[at]matter and for every deed is there. ¹⁸ I said ^[au]to myself concerning the sons of men, “God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but ^(CE)beasts.” ^19 (CF)For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts ^[av]is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is ^[aw]vanity. ²⁰ All go to the same place. All came from the ^(CG)dust and all return to the dust. ²¹ Who knows that the ^(CH)breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth? ²² I have seen that ^(CI)nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see ^(CJ)what will occur after him?

A Song Celebrating the King’s Marriage.

For the choir director; according to the ^[a]Shoshannim. A ^[b]Maskil of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.

Timothy Charged to Guard His Trust

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of ^(B)Christ Jesus ^[a](C)by the will of God, according to the promise of ^(D)life in Christ Jesus,

² To ^(E)Timothy, my beloved ^[b](F)son: ^(G)Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

^3 (H)I thank God, whom I ^(I)serve with a ^(J)clear conscience ^[c]the way my forefathers did, ^(K)as I constantly remember you in my ^[d]prayers night and day, ^4 (L)longing to see you, ^(M)even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy. ^5 [e]For I am mindful of the ^(N)sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and ^(O)your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. ⁶ For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh ^(P)the gift of God which is in you through ^(Q)the laying on of my hands. ⁷ For God has not given us a ^(R)spirit of ^[f]timidity, but of power and love and ^[g]discipline.

⁸ Therefore ^(S)do not be ashamed of the ^(T)testimony of our Lord or of me ^(U)His prisoner, but join with me in ^(V)suffering for the ^(W)gospel according to the power of God, ⁹ who has ^(X)saved us and ^(Y)called us with a holy ^(Z)calling, ^(AA)not according to our works, but according to His own ^(AB)purpose and grace which was granted us in ^(AC)Christ Jesus from ^(AD)all eternity, ¹⁰ but ^(AE)now has been revealed by the ^(AF)appearing of our Savior ^(AG)Christ Jesus, who ^(AH)abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, ^11 (AI)for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. ¹² For this reason I also suffer these things, but ^(AJ)I am not ashamed; for I know ^(AK)whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to ^(AL)guard what I have entrusted to Him ^[h]until ^(AM)that day. ^13 [i](AN)Retain the ^(AO)standard of ^(AP)sound words ^(AQ)which you have heard from me, in the ^(AR)faith and love which are in ^(AS)Christ Jesus. ¹⁴ Guard, through the Holy Spirit who ^(AT)dwells in us, the ^[j](AU)treasure which has been entrusted to you.

¹⁵ You are aware of the fact that all who are in ^[k](AV)Asia ^(AW)turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. ¹⁶ The Lord grant mercy to ^(AX)the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and ^(AY)was not ashamed of my ^[l](AZ)chains; ¹⁷ but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me— ¹⁸ the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on ^(BA)that day—and you know very well what services he rendered at ^(BB)Ephesus.