Old/New Testament
10 Dead flies make perfumed oil ferment and stink, just as a little stupidity outweighs wisdom and honor.
2 A wise man’s heart heads right, but a fool’s heart heads left.
3 Even when a fool is walking down the road, he does not know where he is going, and he advertises to everyone that he is a fool.
4 If a ruler’s anger rises against you, do not abandon your post, because keeping calm puts serious sins to rest.
5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun. What a mistake rulers make! 6 Stupidity is placed in many high places, but the rich are seated in low positions. 7 I have seen slaves on horses, while princes walk on the ground like slaves.
8 A person who digs a pit might fall into it, and one who breaks through a wall might be bitten by a snake.
9 A person who quarries stones may be hurt by them. Someone who splits logs may be endangered by them.
10 If the ax is dull and no one sharpens its edge, the person chopping must apply more strength, but an advantage of wisdom is that it gives success.
11 If the snake bites before it is charmed, there is no advantage to having a charmer.[a]
12 Words from a wise man’s mouth bring favor, but a fool’s lips swallow him up.
13 The fool starts out by saying stupid things, but he ends up speaking wicked madness. 14 The fool multiplies words.
No one knows what will be in the future, and who can tell him what will come after him?
15 The hard work of fools wears them out so much that they no longer know their way to town.[b]
16 How unfortunate you are, O land, when your king once was a servant,[c] and your officials overeat in the morning. 17 How blessed you are, O land, when your king is a son of nobles, and your officials eat at the right time—to get stronger, not to get drunk.
18 Because of laziness, roof beams sag. Because of idle hands, the house leaks.
19 Food is made for pleasure. Wine makes life happy, but money is the answer for everything.
20 Do not curse the king even in your thoughts, and do not curse a rich person in your bedroom, for a bird in the skies might carry your voice, or a bird in flight might reveal the matter.
11 Cast your bread on the surface of the water. Then, after many days you will find it again.[d]
2 Put part of your investment into seven or even into eight ventures, for you do not know what disaster might come upon the land.
3 If the clouds are full, they pour out rain on the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, wherever it falls, there it will lie.
4 Whoever keeps watching the wind will never sow, and anyone who keeps looking at the clouds will never reap.
5 Just as you do not know the path of the wind,[e] or how bones form in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you do not know the work of God, who makes everything.
6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening do not let your hand rest, for you do not know which effort will succeed, this one or that, or if both of them will be equally good.
7 Light is sweet, and it is good for eyes to see the sun.
8 Yes, even if a man lives many years, in all of them let him find joy, but let him keep in mind the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything that is to come is vapor.
Advice to the Young
9 Young man, be happy while you are a child, and let your heart make you glad during the days of your youth. Walk down the roads on which your heart leads you and on the way your eyes see—but know that for all these, God will bring you into judgment.
10 Put frustration out of your mind, and ignore the troubles of your body, because youth and the dawn of life are vapor.[f]
12 So remember your Creator in the days of your youth,
before the bad days come and the years arrive when you will say,
“I have no delight in them,”
2 before the sun and the light of the moon and the stars are darkened,
before the clouds return after the rain,
3 before the day when the watchmen of the house tremble,
and the strong men are bent over,
and the women who grind grain cease because they are few,
and those watching through the windows can barely see.
4 Then the double doors to the street are shut,
as the grinding of the mill grows quiet.
A person wakes up at the sound of a bird,
but all the sounds of music are muffled.
5 Then they fear heights and terrors along the road.
The almond blossoms become white.
The grasshopper drags himself along,
and the caperberry has no effect.[g]
Why? Because the man is heading to his eternal home.
Then the wailing mourners will go around in the street.
6 Remember your Creator
before the silver cord is snapped,
and the golden bowl is broken,
before the jar is shattered by the spring,
and the waterwheel is broken by the well,
7 and the dust goes back into the ground—just as it was before,
and the spirit goes back to God who gave it.
8 “Nothing but vapor,” said Ecclesiastes, the speaker.[h] “It is all vapor.”
9 Besides being wise, Ecclesiastes taught the people knowledge, and he weighed, collected, and arranged many proverbs. 10 Ecclesiastes searched to find just the right words. What was written was honest—they were true words. 11 Sayings of wise men are like cattle prods, and those sayings collected by experts are like firmly fixed nails, given by one Shepherd.
12 My son, beware of anything in addition to these. There is no end of making many books, and much study wears out the body.
13 This is the conclusion of the matter. Everything has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments. For mankind, this is everything.[i]
14 Yes, God will bring everything that is done into judgment, including everything that is hidden, whether good or evil.
Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle—not from men, nor through a man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all of the brothers[a] who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 He gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father— 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Not Another Gospel
6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ, for a different gospel, 7 which is really not another gospel at all. There are, however, some who are trying to disturb you by perverting the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven would preach any gospel other than the one we preached to you—a curse on him! 9 As we have said before, so I now say again: If anyone preaches to you any gospel other than the one you received—a curse on him!
10 Am I now seeking the favor of people or of God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to gain the approval of people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Jesus Gave Paul the Gospel
11 But I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation from Jesus Christ.
13 Certainly you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God to an extraordinary degree and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my own people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 However, God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me, so that I would preach him among the Gentiles. At that time, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, 17 and I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me. Instead I went away into Arabia, and then I returned again to Damascus.
18 Next, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to meet Cephas[b] and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles, except James, the Lord’s brother. 20 (Now about the things I am writing to you—look, I assure you in the presence of God that I am not lying.) 21 Then I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 I was still personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They heard only: “The one who was once persecuting us is now preaching the faith that he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they were praising God for what happened to me.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.