Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Two Ways to Live
1 Happy are those who don’t listen to the wicked,
who don’t go where sinners go,
who don’t do what evil people do.
2 They love the Lord’s teachings,
and they think about those teachings day and night.
3 They are strong, like a tree planted by a river.
The tree produces fruit in season,
and its leaves don’t die.
Everything they do will succeed.
4 But wicked people are not like that.
They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 So the wicked will not escape God’s punishment.
Sinners will not worship with God’s people.
6 This is because the Lord takes care of his people,
but the wicked will be destroyed.
1 These are the words of the Teacher, a son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 The Teacher says,
“Useless! Useless!
Completely useless!
Everything is useless.”
3 What do people really gain
from all the hard work they do here on earth?
Things Never Change
4 People live, and people die,
but the earth continues forever.
5 The sun rises, the sun sets,
and then it hurries back to where it rises again.
6 The wind blows to the south;
it blows to the north.
It blows from one direction and then another.
Then it turns around and repeats the same pattern, going nowhere.
7 All the rivers flow to the sea,
but the sea never becomes full.
8 Everything is boring,
so boring that you don’t even want to talk about it.
Words come again and again to our ears,
but we never hear enough,
nor can we ever really see all we want to see.
9 All things continue the way they have been since the beginning.
What has happened will happen again;
there is nothing new here on earth.
10 Someone might say,
“Look, this is new,”
but really it has always been here.
It was here before we were.
11 People don’t remember what happened long ago,
and in the future people will not remember what happens now.
Even later, other people will not remember what was done before them.
Does Wisdom Bring Happiness?
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I decided to use my wisdom to learn about everything that happens on earth. I learned that God has given us terrible things to face. 14 I looked at everything done on earth and saw that it is all useless, like chasing the wind.
15 If something is crooked,
you can’t make it straight.
If something is missing,
you can’t say it is there.
16 I said to myself, “I have become very wise and am now wiser than anyone who ruled Jerusalem before me. I know what wisdom and knowledge really are.” 17 So I decided to find out about wisdom and knowledge and also about foolish thinking, but this turned out to be like chasing the wind.
18 With much wisdom comes much disappointment;
the person who gains more knowledge also gains more sorrow.
29 “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets, and you show honor to the graves of those who lived good lives. 30 You say, ‘If we had lived during the time of our ancestors, we would not have helped them kill the prophets.’ 31 But you give proof that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 And you will complete the sin that your ancestors started.
33 “You are snakes! A family of poisonous snakes! How are you going to escape God’s judgment? 34 So I tell you this: I am sending to you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify. Some of them you will beat in your synagogues and chase from town to town. 35 So you will be guilty for the death of all the good people who have been killed on earth—from the murder of that good man Abel to the murder of Zechariah[a] son of Berakiah, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar. 36 I tell you the truth, all of these things will happen to you people who are living now.
Jesus Feels Sorry for Jerusalem
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and stone to death those who are sent to you. Many times I wanted to gather your people as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you did not let me. 38 Now your house will be left completely empty. 39 I tell you, you will not see me again until that time when you will say, ‘God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord.’”[b]
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.