The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the NIV. Switch to the NIV to read along with the audio.
The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly
7 (A)A good name is better than precious ointment,
and (B)the day of death than the day of birth.
2 It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting,
for this is the end of all mankind,
and the living will (C)lay it to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
(D)for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5 It is (E)better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
than to hear the song of fools.
6 (F)For as the crackling of (G)thorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of the fools;
this also is vanity.[a]
7 Surely (H)oppression drives the wise into madness,
and (I)a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
and (J)the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
9 (K)Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,
(L)for anger lodges in the heart[b] of fools.
10 Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
an advantage to those who (M)see the sun.
12 For the protection of wisdom is like (N)the protection of money,
and the advantage of knowledge is that (O)wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
13 Consider (P)the work of God:
(Q)who can make straight what he has made crooked?
14 (R)In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, (S)so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.
15 In my (T)vain[c] life I have seen everything. There is (U)a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who (V)prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not (W)make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. (X)Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of (Y)this, and from (Z)that (AA)withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.
19 (AB)Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.
20 Surely (AC)there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear (AD)your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that (AE)many times you yourself have cursed others.
23 All this I have tested by wisdom. (AF)I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and (AG)deep, very deep; (AH)who can find it out?
25 (AI)I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more (AJ)bitter than death: (AK)the woman whose heart is (AL)snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but (AM)the sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says (AN)the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— 28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. (AO)One man among a thousand I found, but (AP)a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that (AQ)God made man upright, but (AR)they have sought out many schemes.
Keep the King's Command
8 Who is like the wise?
And who knows the interpretation of a thing?
(AS)A man's wisdom makes his face shine,
and (AT)the hardness of his face is changed.
2 I say:[d] Keep the king's command, because of (AU)God's oath to him.[e] 3 Be not hasty to (AV)go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. 4 For the word of the king is supreme, and (AW)who may say to him, “What are you doing?” 5 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.[f] 6 For there is a time and a way (AX)for everything, although man's trouble[g] lies heavy on him. 7 For he (AY)does not know what is to be, for (AZ)who can tell him how it will be? 8 No man has power to (BA)retain the spirit, (BB)or power over the day of death. There is no (BC)discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. 9 (BD)All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.
Those Who Fear God Will Do Well
10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of (BE)the holy place and were (BF)praised[h] in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.[i] 11 Because (BG)the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, (BH)the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and (BI)prolongs his life, yet I know that (BJ)it will be well with (BK)those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it will (BL)not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like (BM)a shadow, because he does not fear before God.
Man Cannot Know God's Ways
14 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people (BN)to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people (BO)to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15 And I commend joy, for man (BP)has nothing better under the sun but to (BQ)eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see (BR)the business that is done on earth, how neither (BS)day nor night do one's eyes see sleep, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that (BT)man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, (BU)he cannot find it out.
Death Comes to All
9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, (BV)how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are (BW)in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 (BX)It is the same for all, since (BY)the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,[j] to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who (BZ)swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that (CA)the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and (CB)madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but (CC)the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for (CD)the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.
Enjoy Life with the One You Love
7 Go, (CE)eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.
8 (CF)Let your garments be always white. Let not (CG)oil be lacking on your head.
9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your (CH)vain[k] life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your (CI)portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, (CJ)do it with your might,[l] (CK)for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.
Wisdom Better Than Folly
11 (CL)Again I saw that under the sun (CM)the race is not to the swift, nor (CN)the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and (CO)chance (CP)happen to them all. 12 For man (CQ)does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and (CR)like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are (CS)snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.
13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it (CT)a poor, wise man, and he by his (CU)wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that (CV)wisdom is better than might, though (CW)the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.
17 The words of the wise heard in (CX)quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 (CY)Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but (CZ)one sinner destroys much good.
8 For (A)even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though (B)I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but (C)because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.
10 For (D)godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas (E)worldly grief produces death. 11 For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, (F)what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. 12 So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one (G)who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. 13 Therefore (H)we are comforted.
And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit (I)has been refreshed by you all. 14 For (J)whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you (K)was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. 15 And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers (L)the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. 16 I rejoice, because I have complete (M)confidence in you.
Zion, the City of Our God
A Song. A Psalm of (A)the Sons of Korah.
48 (B)Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
in (C)the city of our God!
His (D)holy mountain, 2 (E)beautiful in elevation,
is (F)the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
(G)the city of the great King.
3 Within her citadels God
has made himself known as a fortress.
4 For behold, (H)the kings assembled;
they came on together.
5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
they were in panic; they took to flight.
6 (I)Trembling took hold of them there,
anguish (J)as of a woman in labor.
7 By (K)the east wind you (L)shattered
the ships of (M)Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in (N)the city of our God,
which God will (O)establish forever. Selah
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.