Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A song from Solomon for going up to the Temple.

¹⁶ I also saw these things in this life^[a]: I saw that the courts should be filled with goodness and fairness, but there is evil there now. ¹⁷ So I said to myself, “God has planned a time for everything, and he has planned a time to judge everything people do. He will judge good people and bad people.”

Are People Like Animals?

¹⁸ I thought about what people do to each other. And I said to myself, “God wants people to see that they are like animals. ¹⁹ The same thing happens to animals and to people—they die. People and animals have the same ‘breath.’^[b] Is a dead animal different from a dead person? It is all so senseless! ²⁰ The bodies of people and animals end the same way. They came from the earth, and, in the end, they will go back to the earth. ²¹ Who knows what happens to a person’s spirit? Who knows if a human’s spirit goes up to God while an animal’s spirit goes down into the ground?”

²² So I saw that the best thing people can do is to enjoy what they do, because that is all they have. Besides, no one can help another person see what will happen in the future.

Is It Better to Be Dead?

4 Again I saw that many people are treated badly. I saw their tears, and I saw that there was no one to comfort them. I saw that cruel people had all the power, and I saw that there was no one to comfort the people they hurt. ² I decided that it is better for those who have died than for those who are still alive. ³ And it is even better for those who die at birth, because they never saw the evil that is done in this world.^[c]

Why Work So Hard?

⁴ Then I thought, “Why do people work so hard?” I saw people try to succeed and be better than other people. They do this because they are jealous. They don’t want other people to have more than they have. This is senseless. It is like trying to catch the wind.^[d]

⁵ Some people say, “It is foolish to fold your hands and do nothing. If you don’t work, you will starve to death.” ⁶ Maybe that is true. But I say it is better to be satisfied with the few things you have than to always be struggling to get more.

⁷ Again I saw something else that didn’t make sense: ⁸ I saw a man who has no family, not a son or even a brother. But he continues to work very hard. He is never satisfied with what he has. And he works so hard that he never stops and asks himself, “Why am I working so hard? Why don’t I let myself enjoy my life?” This is also a very bad and senseless thing.

Some Things to Do

² Never stop praying. Be ready for anything by praying and being thankful. ³ Also pray for us. Pray that God will give us an opportunity to tell people his message. I am in prison for doing this. But pray that we can continue to tell people the secret truth that God has made known about Christ. ⁴ Pray that I will say what is necessary to make this truth clear to everyone.

⁵ Be wise in the way you act with those who are not believers. Use your time in the best way you can. ⁶ When you talk, you should always be kind and wise. Then you will be able to answer everyone in the way you should.