Psalm 1

New International Version

BOOK I

Psalms 1–41

Psalm 1

¹Blessed is the one^(A)
    who does not walk^(B) in step with the wicked^(C)
or stand in the way^(D) that sinners take^(E)
    or sit^(F) in the company of mockers,^(G)
²but whose delight^(H) is in the law of the Lord,^(I)
    and who meditates^(J) on his law day and night.
³That person is like a tree^(K) planted by streams^(L) of water,^(M)
    which yields its fruit^(N) in season
and whose leaf^(O) does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.^(P)

⁴Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff^(Q)
    that the wind blows away.
⁵Therefore the wicked will not stand^(R) in the judgment,^(S)
    nor sinners in the assembly^(T) of the righteous.

⁶For the Lord watches over^(U) the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.^(V)

Ecclesiastes 1

New International Version

Everything Is Meaningless

1 The words of the Teacher,^[a]^(A) son of David, king in Jerusalem:^(B)

²“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”^(C)

³What do people gain from all their labors
    at which they toil under the sun?^(D)
⁴Generations come and generations go,
    but the earth remains forever.^(E)
⁵The sun rises and the sun sets,
    and hurries back to where it rises.^(F)
⁶The wind blows to the south
    and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
    ever returning on its course.
⁷All streams flow into the sea,
    yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
    there they return again.^(G)
⁸All things are wearisome,
    more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,^(H)
    nor the ear its fill of hearing.
⁹What has been will be again,
    what has been done will be done again;^(I)
    there is nothing new under the sun.
¹⁰Is there anything of which one can say,
    “Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
    it was here before our time.
¹¹No one remembers the former generations,^(J)
    and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
    by those who follow them.^(K)

Wisdom Is Meaningless

¹²I, the Teacher,^(L) was king over Israel in Jerusalem.^(M) ¹³I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens.^(N) What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!^(O) ¹⁴I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.^(P)

¹⁵What is crooked cannot be straightened;^(Q)
what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me;^(R) I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom,^(S) and also of madness and folly,^(T) but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

¹⁸For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;^(U)
the more knowledge, the more grief.^(V)

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Footnotes

Ecclesiastes 1:1 Or the leader of the assembly; also in verses 2 and 12

Matthew 23:29-39

New International Version

²⁹“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets^(A) and decorate the graves of the righteous. ³⁰And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.^(B) ³²Go ahead, then, and complete^(C) what your ancestors started!^(D)

³³“You snakes! You brood of vipers!^(E) How will you escape being condemned to hell?^(F) ³⁴Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify;^(G) others you will flog in your synagogues^(H) and pursue from town to town.^(I) ³⁵And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel^(J) to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah,^(K) whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.^(L) ³⁶Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.^(M)

³⁷“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,^(N) how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,^(O) and you were not willing. ³⁸Look, your house is left to you desolate.^(P) ³⁹For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’^[a]”^(Q)