20 June - Ecclesiastes 7-12

Jude Sat Dec 29, 2018 12:51 am

My soul doth magnify my YAH, and my spirit hath rejoiced in EL my Saviour; For HE that is mighty hath done to me great things; and Holy is HIS Name. Now unto HIM who is ever present in my helpless estate; who is able to keep me from falling and to present me faultless before the presence of His Glory with exceeding joy, unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only wise EL our Saviour be honour and glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and for ever Halleluyah!

ECCLESIASTES 7

1A good name is better than precious oil, and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.

2It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men. And the living take it to heart.

3Sorrow is better than laughter, for by the sadness of the face the heart becomes better.

4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of rejoicing.

5It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for man to hear the song of fools.

6For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool. That too is futile.

7For oppression makes a wise one mad, and a bribe destroys the heart.

8The end of a matter is better than its beginning. The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

9Do not be hasty in your spirit to be vexed, for vexation rests in the bosom of fools.

10Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not wise of you to have asked about this.

11Wisdom is good with an inheritance, and an advantage to those who see the sun.

12For wisdom protects as silver protects, but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it.

13See the work of Elohim: For who is able to make straight what He has made crooked?

14Be glad in the day of prosperity, but in the evil day take note that Elohim has also appointed the one as well as the other, so that man should not uncover whatever shall be after him.

15I have seen it all in my days of futility: There is a righteous one perishing in his righteousness, and there is a wrong one living long in his evil.

16Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise – why destroy yourself?

17Do not be wrong overmuch, and do not be a fool – why die before your time?

18It is good that you should take hold of this, and also not withhold your hand from the other. For he who fears Elohim comes forth with all of them.

19Wisdom makes the wise strong, more than ten rulers that are in the city.

20For there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin.

21Also do not take to heart all the words they speak, lest you hear your servant cursing you.

22For you know in your heart that many times you have cursed others.

23All this I have proved by wisdom. I said, “I am wise,” but it was far from me.

24That which is, is far off and exceedingly deep – who does find it?

25I have turned round, even my heart, to know and to search, and to seek out wisdom and a conclusion, to know the wrongness of folly, even of foolishness and madness.

26And I found more bitter than death, the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are shackles. He who pleases Elohim escapes from her, but the sinner is captured by her.

27“See, this I have found,” says Qoheleth, “Counting one by one, to find a conclusion,

28which my being still seeks but have not found: I have found one man among a thousand, but a woman among all these I have not found.

29Truly, this only I have found: that Elohim made man straight, but they have sought out many devices.”

ECCLESIASTES 8

1Who is like a wise one? And who knows the meaning of a matter? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.

2I say, “Guard the sovereign’s command because of the oath before Elohim.

3Do not be in a hurry to go from his presence. Do not take a stand in an evil matter, for he does whatever he pleases.”

4Where the word of a sovereign is, there is power. And who says to him, “What are you doing?”

5He who guards the command knows no evil matter. And the heart of the wise discerns both time and right-ruling,

6Because for every matter there is a time and right-ruling, though the trouble of man is heavy upon him.

7For he does not know what shall be; so who declares to him when it shall be?

8No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, and no one has power in the day of death. There is no discharge in battle, and wrongness does not release those who are given to it.

9All this I have seen; I applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: There is a time in which a man rules over a man for his evil.

10And so I saw the wrong ones buried, and they came and went from the place of set-apartness, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done. That too is futile.

11Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is filled in them to do evil.

12Although a sinner is doing evil a hundred times, and his life is prolonged, yet I know that there is good to those who fear Elohim, who fear before Him.

13But it shall not be well with the wrong one, nor would he prolong his days as a shadow, because he does not fear before Elohim.

14There is a futility which has been done on earth, that there are righteous ones who get according to the deeds of the wrong. And there are wrong ones who get according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this too is futile.

15Therefore I praised enjoyment, because there is no good to man except to eat, and to drink, and to rejoice – and it remains with him in his labour for the days of his life which Elohim has given him under the sun.

16When I gave my heart to know wisdom and to see the task which has been done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night,

17then I saw all the work of Elohim, that man is unable to find out the work that has been done under the sun. For though a man labours to seek, yet he does not find it. And even though a wise one claims to know, he is unable to find it.

ECCLESIASTES 9

1For all this I took to heart, even to search out all this: that the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of Elohim. No man knows whether love or hatred awaits him.

2It is the same for all: One event to the righteous and to the wrong; to the good, and to the clean, and to the unclean; and to the one slaughtering and to the one not slaughtering. As is the good one, so is the sinner; the one swearing as the one fearing an oath.

3This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: there is one event to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are filled with evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and then – to the dead!

4But for him who is joined to all the living there is trust, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

5For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know naught, nor do they have any more reward, for their remembrance is forgotten.

6Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy have now perished; and they no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun.

7Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a glad heart; for Elohim has already approved your works.

8Let your garments be white at all times, and let your head lack no oil.

9See life with the wife whom you love all the days of your futile life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of futility. For that is your share in life, and in your toil which you have laboured under the sun.

10All that your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

11I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the mighty, nor even bread to the wise, nor even riches to men of understanding, nor even favour to men of knowledge – for time and chance meets with them all.

12For even man does not know his time. Like fish taken in an evil net, and like birds caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it come down on them suddenly.

13Also this I saw as wisdom under the sun, and it is great to me:

14A little city, and few men in it, and a great sovereign came against it, and besieged it, and built huge siege-works against it.

15And there was found in it a poor wise man, and by his wisdom he delivered the city, yet no one remembered that poor man.

16And I said, “Wisdom is better than might. But the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heard.”

17The words of the wise, spoken calmly, should be heard rather than the shout of a ruler of fools.

18Wisdom is better than weapons of conflict, but one sinner destroys much good.

ECCLESIASTES 10

1Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment stink, ferment; a little folly outweighs wisdom, esteem.

2A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, but a fool’s heart at his left.

3And also, when a fool walks along the way, his heart fails, and he shows everyone that he is a fool.

4If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your post, for calmness lays to rest great faults.

5There is an evil I have seen under the sun, as a mistake coming from the ruler:

6Folly is set in many high positions, while the rich sit in a humble place.

7I have seen servants on horses – and rulers walking on the ground like servants.

8He who digs a pit falls into it, and whoever breaks through a wall is bitten by a snake.

9He who quarries stones is hurt by them. He who splits wood is endangered by it.

10If an iron tool is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he needs more strength, and wisdom is advantageous to make right.

11If the snake bites without enchantment, then ‘the master of the tongue’ is no better!

12Words of a wise man’s mouth show favour, but the lips of a fool swallow him up;

13the beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is wicked madness.

14And a fool increases words; a man knows not what shall come to be; and who declares to him what shall be after him?

15The labour of fools wearies them, because not one knows how to go to the city!

16Woe to you, O land, when your sovereign is a youth, and your rulers feast in the morning!

17Blessed are you, O land, when your sovereign is the son of nobles, and your rulers feast in due season – for strength and not for drunkenness!

18Because of laziness the framework tumbles, and through idleness of hands the house leaks.

19A feast is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life; and the silver answers all.

20Do not curse the sovereign, even in your thought; do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom; for a bird of the heavens conveys the voice, and a bird in flight makes the matter known.

ECCLESIASTES 11

1Send out your bread on the face of the waters, for after many days you shall find it.

2Give a portion to seven, and also to eight, for you do not know what evil might be on the earth.

3If the clouds are filled with rain, they empty themselves upon the earth. And if a tree falls to the south or the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it is.

4He who watches the wind does not sow, and he who looks at the clouds does not reap.

5As you do not know what is the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, so you do not know the works of Elohim who makes all.

6Sow your seed in the morning, and until evening do not let your hand rest; since you do not know which prosper, this or that, or whether both alike are good.

7Sweet also is the light, and good for the eyes to see the sun;

8But if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they are many. All that is coming is futility.

9Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart gladden you in the days of your youth. And walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these Elohim brings you into right-ruling.

10Therefore remove vexation from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh, for youth and dawn of life are futility.

ECCLESIASTES 12

1Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them”:

2Before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars, are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain;

3in the day when the guards of the house tremble, and the strong men shall bow down; when the grinders shall cease because they are few, and those that look through the windows shall become dim;

4and the doors shall be shut in the streets, and the sound of grinding is low; and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are bowed down;

5furthermore, they are afraid of what is high, and of low places in the way; and the almond tree blossoms, and the grasshopper becomes a burden, and desire perishes. For man is going to his everlasting home, and the mourners shall go about the streets.

6Remember Him before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the jar shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well,

7and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to Elohim who gave it.

8“Futility! Futility!” said the Qoheleth, “All is futile.”

9And besides being wise, Qoheleth also taught the people knowledge, and he listened and sought out – set in order many proverbs.

10Qoheleth sought to find out words of delight, and words of truth, rightly written.

11The words of the wise are like goads, and as nails driven by the masters of collections – they were given by one Shepherd.

12And besides these, my son, be warned – the making of many books has no end, and much study is a wearying of the flesh.

13Let us hear the conclusion of the entire matter: Fear Elohim and guard His commands, for this applies to all mankind!

14For Elohim shall bring every work into right-ruling, including all that is hidden, whether good or whether evil.