Ecclesiastes 10-12
Contemporary English Version
10 A few dead flies in perfume
make all of it stink,
and a little foolishness
outweighs a lot of wisdom.
2 Sensible thoughts lead you
to do right;
foolish thoughts lead you
to do wrong.
3 Fools show their stupidity
by the way they live;
it's easy to see
they have no sense.
4 Don't give up your job
when your boss gets angry.
If you stay calm,
you'll be forgiven.
5 Rulers do some things that are terribly unfair: 6 They honor fools, but dishonor the rich; 7 they let slaves ride on horses, but force slave owners to walk.
8 (A) If you dig a pit,
you might fall in;
if you break down a wall,
a snake might bite you.[a]
9 You could even get hurt
by chiseling a stone
or chopping a log.
10 If you don't sharpen your ax,
it will be harder to use;
if you are wise,
you'll know what to do.[b]
11 The power to charm a snake
does you no good
if it bites you anyway.
12 If you talk sensibly,
you will have friends;
if you talk foolishly,
you will destroy yourself.
13 Fools begin with nonsense,
and their stupid chatter
ends with disaster.
14 They never tire of talking,
but none of us really know
what the future will bring.
15 Fools wear themselves out—
they don't know enough
to find their way home.[c]
16 A country is in for trouble
when its ruler is childish,
and its leaders
party all day long.
17 But a nation will prosper
when its ruler is mature,
and its leaders
don't party too much.
18 Some people are too lazy
to fix a leaky roof—
then the house collapses.
19 Eating and drinking
make you feel happy,
and money can buy
everything you need.
20 Don't let yourself think about
cursing the king;
don't curse the rich,
not even in secret.
A little bird might hear
and tell everything.
It Pays To Work Hard
11 Be generous, and someday
you will be rewarded.[d]
2 Share what you have
with seven or eight others,
because you never know
when disaster may strike.
3 Rain clouds always bring rain;
trees always stay
wherever they fall.
4 If you worry about the weather
and don't plant seeds,
you won't harvest a crop.
5 No one can explain how a baby breathes before it is born.[e] So how can anyone explain what God does? After all, God created everything.
6 Plant your seeds early in the morning and keep working in the field until dark. Who knows? Your work might pay off, and your seeds might produce.
Youth and Old Age
7 Nothing on earth is more beautiful than the morning sun. 8 Even if you have a very long life, you should try to enjoy each day, because darkness will come and will last a long time. Nothing makes sense.[f]
9 Be cheerful and enjoy life while you are young! Do what you want and find pleasure in what you see. But don't forget that God will judge you for everything you do.
10 Rid yourself of all worry and pain, because the wonderful moments of youth quickly disappear.
12 Keep your Creator in mind while you are young! In years to come, you will be burdened down with troubles and say, “I don't enjoy life anymore.”
2 Someday the light of the sun
and the moon and the stars
will all seem dim to you.
Rain clouds will remain
over your head.
3 Your body will grow feeble,
your teeth will decay,
and your eyesight fail.
4 The noisy grinding of grain
and the voices of singers
will be shut out
by your deaf ears,
but even the song of a bird
will keep you awake.[g]
5 You will be afraid
to climb up a hill
or walk down a road.
Your hair will turn as white
as almond blossoms.
You will feel lifeless
and drag along
like an old grasshopper.
We each go to our eternal home,
and the streets here are filled
with those who mourn.
6 The silver cord snaps,
the golden bowl breaks;
the water pitcher is smashed,
and the pulley at the well
is shattered.
7 So our bodies return
to the earth,
and the life-giving breath[h]
returns to God.
8 Nothing makes sense.
I have seen it all—
nothing makes sense.
Respect and Obey God
9 I was a wise teacher with much understanding, and I collected a number of proverbs that I had carefully studied. 10 Then I tried to explain these things in the best and most accurate way.
11 Words of wisdom are like the stick a farmer uses to make animals move. These sayings come from a shepherd,[i] and they are like nails that fasten things together.[j] 12 My child, I warn you to stay away from any teachings except these.
There is no end to books,
and too much study
will wear you out.
13 Everything you were taught can be put into a few words:
Respect and obey God!
This is what life
is all about.
14 God will judge
everything we do,
even what is done in secret,
whether good or bad.
Footnotes
- 10.8 a snake might bite you: Walls of houses were often made of stones with mud to fill in the cracks between them. If some of the mud washed out, a snake could be living inside the wall.
- 10.10 do: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 10.
- 10.15 home: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 15.
- 11.1 Be generous … rewarded: Or “Don't be afraid to invest. Someday it will pay off.”
- 11.5 how … born: Or “what makes the wind blow or how a baby grows inside its mother.”
- 11.8 Nothing makes sense: Or “There's nothing to look forward to!”
- 12.4 but even the song … awake: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 12.7 life-giving breath: Or “spirit.”
- 12.11 a shepherd: This may be a reference to God as shepherd (see also Psalm 23.1).
- 12.11 These sayings … together: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Galatians 1
Contemporary English Version
1 1-2 From the apostle Paul and from all the Lord's followers with me.
I was chosen to be an apostle by Jesus Christ and by God the Father, who raised him from death. No mere human chose or appointed me to this work.
To the churches in Galatia:
3 I pray that God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace! 4 Christ obeyed God our Father and gave himself as a sacrifice for our sins to rescue us from this evil world. 5 God will be given glory forever and ever. Amen.
The Only True Message
6 I am shocked that you have so quickly turned from God, who chose you with his gift of undeserved grace.[a] You have believed another message, 7 when there is really only one true message. But some people are causing you trouble and want to make you turn away from the good news about Christ. 8 I pray that God will punish anyone who preaches anything different from our message to you! It doesn't matter if that person is one of us or an angel from heaven. 9 I have said it before, and I will say it again. I hope God will punish anyone who preaches anything different from what you have already believed.
10 I am not trying to please people. I want to please God. Do you think I am trying to please people? If I were doing that, I would not be a servant of Christ.
How Paul Became an Apostle
11 My friends, I want you to know that no one made up the message I preach. 12 It wasn't given or taught to me by some mere human. My message came directly from Jesus Christ when he appeared to me.
13 (A) You know how I used to live as a Jew. I was cruel to God's church and even tried to destroy it. 14 (B) I was a much better Jew than anyone else my own age, and I obeyed every law our ancestors had given us. 15 (C) But even before I was born, God had chosen me by his gift of undeserved grace and had decided 16 to show me his Son, so I would announce his message to the Gentiles. I didn't talk this over with anyone. 17 I didn't say a word, not even to the men in Jerusalem who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went at once to Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.
18 (D) Three years later I went to visit Peter[b] in Jerusalem and stayed with him for 15 days. 19 The only other apostle I saw was James, the Lord's brother. 20 And in the presence of God I swear I am telling the truth.
21 Later, I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 But no one who belonged to Christ's churches in Judea had ever seen me in person. 23 They had only heard that the one who had been cruel to them was now preaching the message that he had once tried to destroy. 24 And because of me, they praised God.
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