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Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Theme: This book was written to spare future generations the bitterness of learning on their own that life is meaningless apart from God. Human wisdom does not have all the answers. Knowledge and education have their limits. To understand life we need the wisdom found only in the Bible. Ecclesiastes 1 All is vanity. What is accomplished by a man's work? Generations come and go. The sun rises and sets. The wind blows one way and then another. The rivers flow into the sea but the sea does not get full. Man is not able to explain how it all works.
__9-18_That which has been is that which will be. There is nothing new under the sun. I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. I decided to look for and explore by wisdom everything done under heaven. Everything done by man is vanity. I have discovered that much wisdom brings grief and too much knowledge brings pain.
Ecclesiastes 2 __8-10_I collected silver and gold in great quantities. I had men and women singers and many concubines. I became greater than all those who proceeded me in Jerusalem. I had this while enjoying the wisdom the LORD had given me. I did not withhold any pleasure from my heart. These things became my reward for all my labor.
__11-12_As I considered all my activities and the labor to obtain everything, I realized it was all vanity, like trying to catch the wind. There was no profit in any of it. So I decided to consider wisdom. By itself it became folly, even madness. What can a man accomplish that has not already been done?
__13-17_I saw that the wise man walks in the light but the fool walks in darkness. I saw that my end would be the same as the fool's. Why be wise? This too is vanity. No one will remember the wise man for long after he is gone. So I came to hate life. Everything seemed futile and a striving after wind.
__18-21_I came to hate the fruit of my labor since I must leave it to someone who will follow me. Who knows if he will be wise? Yet he will have control over what I have worked for. This too is vanity. I dispaired as I thought of all that I had worked for. One can work very hard only to give it all to one who has not worked for anything.
__22-26_A man can labor day and night to accomplish his goals with pain. Its all vanity. There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. This is what God intended. Can anything be enjoyed without God? He gives wisdom, knowledge and joy to those who are right with Him. But even this is vanity.
Ecclesiastes 3 __5-7_ __8-11_ What profit is there for the one who works? I have seen the things God has given to people to keep them busy, making everything appropriate in its time. Though He has placed eternity in their heart, they cannot know the end from the beginning.
__12-15_I realize that there is nothing better for a man than to rejoice and do good while he lives. To eat and drink and see the fruit of one's labor is the gift of God. And what God does remains forever. It cannot be added to or subtracted from. For this reason one should fear God.
__16-20_I have seen that in the place of justice there is wickedness. God will judge the righteous and the wicked for their every deed. He has shown them that they are but beasts, for their fate is the same. They have the same breath as the beast. It is all vanity. All go to the same place. All came from dust and then return dust.
__21-22_Who knows that the breath of man goes up and the breath of the beast goes down into the earth? I have seen that there is nothing better for a man than to be happy in what he does. This is his lot. He cannot know what tomorrow holds.
Ecclesiastes 4 __7-12_A man might have no dependents and yet he works very hard. He is not satisfied with what he labors for. Two are better than one because they can work together and keep each other from falling. And when two lie down together they can keep each other warm. One by himself can be over powered. Two can better resist. Three are even stronger.
__13-16_A poor, but wise young man is better than an old and foolish king who no longer benefits from instruction. People may like a man who comes from prison to become king. But then they may not be happy with him, either. It is all vanity and striving after wind.
Ecclesiastes 5 __6-9_Do not sin with your confession to God, saying, it was a mistake. I didn't mean to do it. Why make God angry? There is emptiness in many words. Rather, fear God. Do not be surprised to see the poor denied justice. The officials follow the example of the higher officials and they follow the king's example.
__10-13_The one who loves money will never have enough. This too is vanity. The sleep of the working man is pleasant, whether he eats little or much. But the person who has a full stomach without having worked, is not able to sleep. It is very bad when riches are hoarded by their owner to his own hurt.
__14-17_When his riches are lost through a bad investment, he has nothing to support himself. He came naked from his mother's womb and he can carry nothing of his labor with him when he dies. What advantage is there in toiling for the wind? Life brings darkness, great vexation, sickness and anger.
__18-20_What I have seen is that it is good and fitting to eat, drink and enjoy the fruit of one's labor during the few years which God has allotted him. It is God who gives riches and lets a man rejoice in his labor. He often forgets to consider the years of his life because God keeps him occupied with the gladness of his heart.
Ecclesiastes 6 __4-9_The miscarried go into obscurity and are better off than the man who lives a thousand years twice and does not enjoy any of the good things. All a man's labor is for his mouth and yet appetite is not satisfied. For what advantage does the wise man have over the fool? What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires.
__10-12_Whatever exists has been named. There are many words and this increases futility. What then is the advantage to man? Who knows what is good for a man during his few years of life? He will spend them like a shadow and he does not know what will take place after he is gone.
Ecclesiastes 7 __4-10_The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, while the mind of fools seek pleasure. It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise man than to listen to the song of fools. The end of a matter is better than its beginning. Do not say the former days were better than now. Wisdom does not seek to consider this.
__11-14_Wisdom along with an inheritance is good. Wisdom has many of the advantages of money. The advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of those who possess it. Consider the work of God. Who can straighten what He has bent? In times of prosperity be happy, but in times of adversity remember, God made both.
__15-18_During my lifetime of futility I have seen a righteous man perishes in his righteousness, and the wicked man's life is prolonged in his wickedness. Do not be too righteous, or overly wise. Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time? The one who fears God will find a balance in his life.
__19-22_Wisdom makes a wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city. And yet, there is not a righteous man on earth who is continually good and never sins. Do not take seriously everything said about you. You might hear your servant cursing you. You have cursed others many times.
__23-26_I tried to be wise but it is still far from me. Wisdom is a mystery. Who can discover it? I looked for wisdom in order to know the evil of folly and the foolishness of madness. I discovered that the woman whose heart is a snare to be more bitter than death. One who is pleasing to God will escape from her. The sinner will be captured by her.
__27-29_Behold, I have discovered this, says the Preacher. I have found one man in a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all of these. And I have found this to be true: God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.
Ecclesiastes 8 __10-13_I have seen the wicked buried after they used to come and go from the holy place. They are soon forgotten. Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, the sons of men give their hearts fully to do evil. Though the sinner does evil a hundred times and has a long life, it will not be well for him before God.
__14-15_In this life the righteous sometimes receive the reward of the wicked and the wicked receive what the righteous deserve. There is nothing good for a man except to eat and to drink and be merry. This will stand him in good stead in his toils all the days of his life which God has given him.
__16-17_I tried to find wisdom and look at everything done under the sun. I looked at every work of God. I decided that no man can know it all and a wise man admits this.
Ecclesiastes 9 __5-7_The living know they will die, but the dead do not know anything. Their love, their hate and zeal have perished. They no longer have a share in what goes on. Go then and eat your bread in happiness. Drink wine with a cheerful heart for God has already approved your works.
__8-10_Let your clothing be white and there should be oil on your head. Enjoy life with the woman whom you have loved all the days of your fleeting life. This is your reward for all your toil. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. None of these activities or your planning or wisdom, are in the grave where you are going.
__11-12_I saw that the race is neither to the swift nor the battle to the warriors. Neither is bread to the wise or wealth to the discerning. Favor does not come to men of ability. Time and chance overtake them all. Man does not know his time. He is like a fish caught in the net. So it is that evil suddenly befalls the sons of men.
__13-18_A small city was attacked by a great king who constructed a large siege works against it. It was delivered by a poor wise man. Yet no one remembered that poor man. So I said, wisdom is better than strength but the wisdom of the poor wise man is not valued. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
Ecclesiastes 10 __9-18_Quarrying stone, or logging may endanger a person's well being, especially if he does not keep his tools in good shape. This requires wisdom. The words of a wise man are gracious. A fool talks to no purpose. Woe to the land whose king is only a lad. And it is not good for the princes to feast first thing in the morning.
__19-20_Men eat for enjoyment and wine makes life merry. Money is the answer to everything. And remember this: never curse the king or a rich man in your bedroom, for a little bird will surely make the matter known.
Ecclesiastes 11 Use a little less and save for the unknown. He who watches the wind does not sow and he who keeps track of the clouds does not reap. You do not know the path of the wind or how the bones are formed in the womb. In the same way you cannot understand God's activities.
__6-10_Sow your seed right away rather than speculate as to the best time to plant. Every day we live we should rejoice to see the sun, because we remember days of darkness and futility. Rejoice in your early years. Follow your impulses while remembering that God will bring everything into judgment. Try not to be vexed.
Ecclesiastes 12 __4-5_The doors on the street are shut while the sound of the grinding mill is low. The sound of a bird may startle. Memories of long ago are one's only solace. Then men become afraid of high places or being stranded in the middle of nowhere. What he used to take for granted no longer works even with medicine.
__6-8_Remember God before the silver cord is broken and life is over. Then the dust will return to the earth and the breath will return to God who gave it. So much of what has occupied a person's time has been vanity.
__9-11_Besides being wise, the Preacher taught the people knowledge and searched out and arranged many proverbs. He tried to find delightful ways to write words of truth. The words of wise men can be like well driven nails, all given by God.
__12-14_And beyond this, be warned my son, the writing of many books is endless. And an excessive devotion to books wears a person out. The conclusion of the matter is, fear God and keep His commandments. And this applies to all of us. For God will bring every act into judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it be good or evil.
Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
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