Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the Law of the LORD. And on His Law does he meditate day and night.
3 For he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters, that will bring forth her fruits in due season; whose leaf shall not fade. So, whatever he shall do shall prosper.
4 The wicked are not so; but are as the chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous. And the way of the wicked shall perish.
1 The words of the preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the preacher, “Vanity of vanities. All is vanity.
3 “What remains to man in all his travail which he suffers under the Sun?”
4 One generation passes, and another generation succeeds. But the Earth remains forever.
5 The Sun rises, and the Sun goes down, and hastens to its place where it arose.
6 The wind goes toward the south, and circles around toward the north. The wind whirls about continually and returns by its circuits.
7 All the rivers go into the sea. Yet the sea is not full. For the rivers go to the place from where they have returned.
8 All things are full of labor. Man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 What has been is what will be. And what has been done is what shall be done. And there is no new thing under the Sun.
10 Is there anything of which one may say, “Behold this, it is new?” It has already been in the previous time before us.
11 There is no memory of former things, nor shall there be a remembrance of things to come by those who shall come after.
12 I, the preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 And I have given my heart to search and find out wisdom by all things that are done under the heaven. God has given this sore travail to the sons of men to humble them.
14 I have considered all the works that are done under the Sun and behold, all is vanity and grasping at the wind.
15 That which is crooked can no one make straight. And that which fails cannot be numbered.
16 I thought in my heart, and said, “Behold, I have become great, and exceed in wisdom all those who have been before me in Jerusalem. And my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.”
17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and foolishness. I knew also that this is grasping at the wind.
18 For in the multitude of wisdom is much grief. And he who increases knowledge, increases sorrow.
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, Hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the Prophets, and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous,
30 “and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in the blood of the Prophets.’
31 “So then you are witnesses to yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the Prophets.
32 “And you fill up the measure of your fathers.
33 “O serpents! The generation of vipers! How shall you escape the damnation of Hell!
34 “Therefore, behold, I send to you Prophets, and wise men, and scribes. And some of them you shall kill and crucify. And some of them you shall scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city.
35 “So that upon you may come all the righteous blood that was shed upon the Earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous to the blood of Zechariah the son of Berechiah, whom you killed between the Temple and the altar.
36 “Truly I say to you that all these things shall come upon this generation.
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem; who kills the Prophets and stones those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together - as the hen gathers her chickens under her wings - and you would not!
38 “Behold, your house shall be left to you desolate.
39 “For I say to you, you shall not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is the One Who comes in the Name of the Lord’.”
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