Romans 16

New International Version

Personal Greetings

16 I commend^(A) to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon^[a]^[b] of the church in Cenchreae.^(B) ²I ask you to receive her in the Lord^(C) in a way worthy of his people^(D) and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.

³Greet Priscilla^[c] and Aquila,^(E) my co-workers^(F) in Christ Jesus.^(G) ⁴They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.

⁵Greet also the church that meets at their house.^(H)

Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert^(I) to Christ in the province of Asia.^(J)

⁶Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you.

⁷Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews^(K) who have been in prison with me.^(L) They are outstanding among^[d] the apostles, and they were in Christ^(M) before I was.

⁸Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.

⁹Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ,^(N) and my dear friend Stachys.

¹⁰Greet Apelles, whose fidelity to Christ has stood the test.^(O)

Greet those who belong to the household^(P) of Aristobulus.

¹¹Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew.^(Q)

Greet those in the household^(R) of Narcissus who are in the Lord.

¹²Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord.

Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.

¹³Greet Rufus,^(S) chosen^(T) in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.

¹⁴Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the other brothers and sisters with them.

¹⁵Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the Lord’s people^(U) who are with them.^(V)

¹⁶Greet one another with a holy kiss.^(W)

All the churches of Christ send greetings.

¹⁷I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned.^(X) Keep away from them.^(Y) ¹⁸For such people are not serving our Lord Christ,^(Z) but their own appetites.^(AA) By smooth talk and flattery they deceive^(AB) the minds of naive people. ¹⁹Everyone has heard^(AC) about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.^(AD)

²⁰The God of peace^(AE) will soon crush^(AF) Satan^(AG) under your feet.

The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.^(AH)

²¹Timothy,^(AI) my co-worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius,^(AJ) Jason^(AK) and Sosipater, my fellow Jews.^(AL)

²²I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.

²³Gaius,^(AM) whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings.

Erastus,^(AN) who is the city’s director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings. ^[24]^[e]

²⁵Now to him who is able^(AO) to establish you in accordance with my gospel,^(AP) the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery^(AQ) hidden for long ages past, ²⁶but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings^(AR) by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from^[f] faith^(AS)— ²⁷to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.^(AT)

Footnotes

Romans 16:1 Or servant
Romans 16:1 The word deacon refers here to a Christian designated to serve with the overseers/elders of the church in a variety of ways; similarly in Phil. 1:1 and 1 Tim. 3:8,12.
Romans 16:3 Greek Prisca, a variant of Priscilla
Romans 16:7 Or are esteemed by
Romans 16:24 Some manuscripts include here May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you. Amen.
Romans 16:26 Or that is

Psalm 105

New International Version

Psalm 105^(A)

¹Give praise to the Lord,^(B) proclaim his name;^(C)
    make known among the nations what he has done.
²Sing to him,^(D) sing praise to him;^(E)
    tell of all his wonderful acts.^(F)
³Glory in his holy name;^(G)
    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
⁴Look to the Lord and his strength;
    seek his face^(H) always.

⁵Remember the wonders^(I) he has done,
    his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,^(J)
⁶you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,^(K)
    his chosen^(L) ones, the children of Jacob.
⁷He is the Lord our God;
    his judgments are in all the earth.

⁸He remembers his covenant^(M) forever,
    the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
⁹the covenant he made with Abraham,^(N)
    the oath he swore to Isaac.
¹⁰He confirmed it^(O) to Jacob as a decree,
    to Israel as an everlasting covenant:^(P)
¹¹“To you I will give the land of Canaan^(Q)
    as the portion you will inherit.”^(R)

¹²When they were but few in number,^(S)
    few indeed, and strangers in it,^(T)
¹³they wandered from nation to nation,^(U)
    from one kingdom to another.
¹⁴He allowed no one to oppress^(V) them;
    for their sake he rebuked kings:^(W)
¹⁵“Do not touch^(X) my anointed ones;
    do my prophets^(Y) no harm.”

¹⁶He called down famine^(Z) on the land
    and destroyed all their supplies of food;
¹⁷and he sent a man before them—
    Joseph, sold as a slave.^(AA)
¹⁸They bruised his feet with shackles,^(AB)
    his neck was put in irons,
¹⁹till what he foretold^(AC) came to pass,
    till the word^(AD) of the Lord proved him true.
²⁰The king sent and released him,
    the ruler of peoples set him free.^(AE)
²¹He made him master of his household,
    ruler over all he possessed,
²²to instruct his princes^(AF) as he pleased
    and teach his elders wisdom.^(AG)

²³Then Israel entered Egypt;^(AH)
    Jacob resided^(AI) as a foreigner in the land of Ham.^(AJ)
²⁴The Lord made his people very fruitful;
    he made them too numerous^(AK) for their foes,
²⁵whose hearts he turned^(AL) to hate his people,
    to conspire^(AM) against his servants.
²⁶He sent Moses^(AN) his servant,
    and Aaron,^(AO) whom he had chosen.^(AP)
²⁷They performed^(AQ) his signs^(AR) among them,
    his wonders^(AS) in the land of Ham.
²⁸He sent darkness^(AT) and made the land dark—
    for had they not rebelled against^(AU) his words?
²⁹He turned their waters into blood,^(AV)
    causing their fish to die.^(AW)
³⁰Their land teemed with frogs,^(AX)
    which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.
³¹He spoke,^(AY) and there came swarms of flies,^(AZ)
    and gnats^(BA) throughout their country.
³²He turned their rain into hail,^(BB)
    with lightning throughout their land;
³³he struck down their vines^(BC) and fig trees^(BD)
    and shattered the trees of their country.
³⁴He spoke,^(BE) and the locusts came,^(BF)
    grasshoppers^(BG) without number;^(BH)
³⁵they ate up every green thing in their land,
    ate up the produce of their soil.
³⁶Then he struck down all the firstborn^(BI) in their land,
    the firstfruits of all their manhood.
³⁷He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold,^(BJ)
    and from among their tribes no one faltered.
³⁸Egypt was glad when they left,
    because dread of Israel^(BK) had fallen on them.

³⁹He spread out a cloud^(BL) as a covering,
    and a fire to give light at night.^(BM)
⁴⁰They asked,^(BN) and he brought them quail;^(BO)
    he fed them well with the bread of heaven.^(BP)
⁴¹He opened the rock,^(BQ) and water gushed out;
    it flowed like a river in the desert.

⁴²For he remembered his holy promise^(BR)
    given to his servant Abraham.
⁴³He brought out his people with rejoicing,^(BS)
    his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
⁴⁴he gave them the lands of the nations,^(BT)
    and they fell heir to what others had toiled^(BU) for—
⁴⁵that they might keep his precepts
    and observe his laws.^(BV)

Praise the Lord.^[a]^(BW)

Footnotes

Psalm 105:45 Hebrew Hallelu Yah

Ecclesiastes 8-10

New International Version

8 Who is like the wise?
Who knows the explanation of things?
A person’s wisdom brightens their face
and changes its hard appearance.

Obey the King

²Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. ³Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence.^(A) Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. ⁴Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?^(B)”

⁵Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,
and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
⁶For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter,^(C)
though a person may be weighed down by misery.

⁷Since no one knows the future,
    who can tell someone else what is to come?
⁸As no one has power over the wind to contain it,
    so^[a] no one has power over the time of their death.
As no one is discharged in time of war,
    so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

⁹All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own^[b] hurt. ¹⁰Then too, I saw the wicked buried^(D)—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise^[c] in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.

¹¹When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. ¹²Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better^(E) with those who fear God,^(F) who are reverent before him.^(G) ¹³Yet because the wicked do not fear God,^(H) it will not go well with them, and their days^(I) will not lengthen like a shadow.

¹⁴There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve.^(J) This too, I say, is meaningless.^(K) ¹⁵So I commend the enjoyment of life^(L), because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink^(M) and be glad.^(N) Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.

¹⁶When I applied my mind to know wisdom^(O) and to observe the labor that is done on earth^(P)—people getting no sleep day or night— ¹⁷then I saw all that God has done.^(Q) No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.^(R)

A Common Destiny for All

9 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.^(S) ²All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,^[d] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.

As it is with the good,
so with the sinful;
as it is with those who take oaths,
so with those who are afraid to take them.^(T)

³This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all.^(U) The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live,^(V) and afterward they join the dead.^(W) ⁴Anyone who is among the living has hope^[e]—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!

⁵For the living know that they will die,
    but the dead know nothing;^(X)
they have no further reward,
    and even their name^(Y) is forgotten.^(Z)
⁶Their love, their hate
    and their jealousy have long since vanished;
never again will they have a part
    in anything that happens under the sun.^(AA)

⁷Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine^(AB) with a joyful heart,^(AC) for God has already approved what you do. ⁸Always be clothed in white,^(AD) and always anoint your head with oil. ⁹Enjoy life with your wife,^(AE) whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot^(AF) in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. ¹⁰Whatever^(AG) your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,^(AH) for in the realm of the dead,^(AI) where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.^(AJ)

¹¹I have seen something else under the sun:

The race is not to the swift
    or the battle to the strong,^(AK)
nor does food come to the wise^(AL)
    or wealth to the brilliant
    or favor to the learned;
but time and chance^(AM) happen to them all.^(AN)

¹²Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:

As fish are caught in a cruel net,
or birds are taken in a snare,
so people are trapped by evil times^(AO)
that fall unexpectedly upon them.^(AP)

Wisdom Better Than Folly

¹³I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom^(AQ) that greatly impressed me: ¹⁴There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. ¹⁵Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man.^(AR) ¹⁶So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.^(AS)

¹⁷The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded
than the shouts of a ruler of fools.
¹⁸Wisdom^(AT) is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner destroys much good.

10 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
    so a little folly^(AU) 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^(AV) how stupid they are.
⁴If a ruler’s anger rises against you,
    do not leave your post;^(AW)
    calmness can lay great offenses to rest.^(AX)

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,^(AY)
    while the rich occupy the low ones.
⁷I have seen slaves on horseback,
    while princes go on foot like slaves.^(AZ)

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

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.^(BD)

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

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

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

¹⁶Woe to the land whose king was a servant^[f]^(BI)
    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.^(BJ)

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

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

²⁰Do not revile the king^(BM) 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.

Footnotes

Ecclesiastes 8:8 Or over the human spirit to retain it, / and so
Ecclesiastes 8:9 Or to their
Ecclesiastes 8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint (Aquila); most Hebrew manuscripts and are forgotten
Ecclesiastes 9:2 Septuagint (Aquila), Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew does not have and the bad.
Ecclesiastes 9:4 Or What then is to be chosen? With all who live, there is hope
Ecclesiastes 10:16 Or king is a child