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

Ecclesiastes 11

New King James Version

The Value of Diligence

11 Cast your bread ^(A)upon the waters,
^(B)For you will find it after many days.
²^(C)Give a serving ^(D)to seven, and also to eight,
^(E)For you do not know what evil will be on the earth.

³If the clouds are full of rain,
They empty themselves upon the earth;
And if a tree falls to the south or the north,
In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie.
⁴He who observes the wind will not sow,
And he who regards the clouds will not reap.

⁵As ^(F)you do not know what is the way of the ^[a]wind,
^(G)Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child,
So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.
⁶In the morning sow your seed,
And in the evening do not withhold your hand;
For you do not know which will prosper,
Either this or that,
Or whether both alike will be good.

⁷Truly the light is sweet,
And it is pleasant for the eyes ^(H)to behold the sun;
⁸But if a man lives many years
And ^(I)rejoices in them all,
Yet let him ^(J)remember the days of darkness,
For they will be many.
All that is coming is vanity.

Seek God in Early Life

⁹Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,
And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth;
^(K)Walk in the ^[b]ways of your heart,
And ^[c]in the sight of your eyes;
But know that for all these
^(L)God will bring you into judgment.
¹⁰Therefore remove ^[d]sorrow from your heart,
And ^(M)put away evil from your flesh,
^(N)For childhood and ^[e]youth are vanity.

Footnotes

Ecclesiastes 11:5 Or spirit
Ecclesiastes 11:9 Impulses
Ecclesiastes 11:9 As you see to be best
Ecclesiastes 11:10 vexation
Ecclesiastes 11:10 Prime of life

1 Timothy 1

New King James Version

Greeting

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,

²To Timothy, a ^(A)true son in the faith:

^(B)Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

No Other Doctrine

³As I urged you ^(C)when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may ^[a]charge some ^(D)that they teach no other doctrine, ⁴^(E)nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. ⁵Now ^(F)the purpose of the commandment is love ^(G)from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from ^[b]sincere faith, ⁶from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to ^(H)idle talk, ⁷desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.

⁸But we know that the law is ^(I)good if one uses it lawfully, ⁹knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, ¹⁰for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is ^[c]contrary to sound doctrine, ¹¹according to the glorious gospel of the ^(J)blessed God which was ^(K)committed to my trust.

Glory to God for His Grace^(L)

¹²And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has ^(M)enabled me, ^(N)because He counted me faithful, ^(O)putting me into the ministry, ¹³although ^(P)I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an ^[d]insolent man; but I obtained mercy because ^(Q)I did it ignorantly in unbelief. ¹⁴^(R)And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, ^(S)with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵^(T)This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that ^(U)Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. ¹⁶However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. ¹⁷Now to ^(V)the King eternal, ^(W)immortal, ^(X)invisible, to ^[e]God ^(Y)who alone is wise, ^(Z)be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Fight the Good Fight

¹⁸This ^[f]charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, ¹⁹having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, ²⁰of whom are ^(AA)Hymenaeus and ^(AB)Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to ^(AC)blaspheme.