John 4:27-42

New International Version

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

²⁷Just then his disciples returned^(A) and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

²⁸Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ²⁹“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.^(B) Could this be the Messiah?”^(C) ³⁰They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

³¹Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi,^(D) eat something.”

³²But he said to them, “I have food to eat^(E) that you know nothing about.”

³³Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

³⁴“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will^(F) of him who sent me and to finish his work.^(G) ³⁵Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.^(H) ³⁶Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests^(I) a crop for eternal life,^(J) so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. ³⁷Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’^(K) is true. ³⁸I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

Many Samaritans Believe

³⁹Many of the Samaritans from that town^(L) believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”^(M) ⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. ⁴¹And because of his words many more became believers.

⁴²They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”^(N)

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Ecclesiastes 10

New International Version

10 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
    so a little folly^(A) outweighs wisdom and honor.
²The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
    but the heart of the fool to the left.
³Even as fools walk along the road,
    they lack sense
    and show everyone^(B) how stupid they are.
⁴If a ruler’s anger rises against you,
    do not leave your post;^(C)
    calmness can lay great offenses to rest.^(D)

⁵There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
    the sort of error that arises from a ruler:
⁶Fools are put in many high positions,^(E)
    while the rich occupy the low ones.
⁷I have seen slaves on horseback,
    while princes go on foot like slaves.^(F)

⁸Whoever digs a pit may fall into it;^(G)
whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.^(H)
⁹Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them;
whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.^(I)

¹⁰If the ax is dull
and its edge unsharpened,
more strength is needed,
but skill will bring success.

¹¹If a snake bites before it is charmed,
the charmer receives no fee.^(J)

¹²Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious,^(K)
    but fools are consumed by their own lips.^(L)
¹³At the beginning their words are folly;
    at the end they are wicked madness—
¹⁴    and fools multiply words.^(M)

No one knows what is coming—
who can tell someone else what will happen after them?^(N)

¹⁵The toil of fools wearies them;
they do not know the way to town.

¹⁶Woe to the land whose king was a servant^[a]^(O)
    and whose princes feast in the morning.
¹⁷Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth
    and whose princes eat at a proper time—
    for strength and not for drunkenness.^(P)

¹⁸Through laziness, the rafters sag;
because of idle hands, the house leaks.^(Q)

¹⁹A feast is made for laughter,
wine^(R) makes life merry,
and money is the answer for everything.

²⁰Do not revile the king^(S) even in your thoughts,
or curse the rich in your bedroom,
because a bird in the sky may carry your words,
and a bird on the wing may report what you say.