Ecclesiastes 1-4

New King James Version

The Vanity of Life

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, ^(A)king in Jerusalem.

²“Vanity^(B)^[a] of vanities,” says the Preacher;
“Vanity of vanities, ^(C)all is vanity.”

³^(D)What profit has a man from all his labor
In which he ^[b]toils under the sun?
⁴One generation passes away, and another generation comes;
^(E)But the earth abides forever.
⁵^(F)The sun also rises, and the sun goes down,
And ^[c]hastens to the place where it arose.
⁶^(G)The wind goes toward the south,
And turns around to the north;
The wind whirls about continually,
And comes again on its circuit.
⁷^(H)All the rivers run into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full;
To the place from which the rivers come,
There they return again.
⁸All things are ^[d]full of labor;
Man cannot express it.
^(I)The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor the ear filled with hearing.

⁹^(J)That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.
¹⁰Is there anything of which it may be said,
“See, this is new”?
It has already been in ancient times before us.
¹¹There is ^(K)no remembrance of former things,
Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come
By those who will come after.

The Grief of Wisdom

¹²I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³And I set my heart to seek and ^(L)search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; ^(M)this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be ^[e]exercised. ¹⁴I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

¹⁵^(N)What is crooked cannot be made straight,
And what is lacking cannot be numbered.

¹⁶I communed with my heart, saying, “Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained ^(O)more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has ^[f]understood great wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷^(P)And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind.

¹⁸For ^(Q)in much wisdom is much grief,
And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

The Vanity of Pleasure^(R)

2 I said ^(S)in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with ^(T)mirth; ^[g]therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, ^(U)this also was vanity. ²I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?” ³^(V)I searched in my heart how ^[h]to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was ^(W)good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.

⁴I made my works great, I built myself ^(X)houses, and planted myself vineyards. ⁵I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. ⁶I made myself water pools from which to ^[i]water the growing trees of the grove. ⁷I acquired male and female servants, and had ^[j]servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. ⁸^(Y)I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and ^[k]musical instruments of all kinds.

⁹^(Z)So I became great and ^[l]excelled ^(AA)more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.

¹⁰Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them.
I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure,
For my heart rejoiced in all my labor;
And ^(AB)this was my ^[m]reward from all my labor.
¹¹Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done
And on the labor in which I had toiled;
And indeed all was ^(AC)vanity and grasping for the wind.
There was no profit under the sun.

The End of the Wise and the Fool

¹²Then I turned myself to consider wisdom ^(AD)and madness and folly;
For what can the man do who succeeds the king?—
Only what he has already ^(AE)done.
¹³Then I saw that wisdom ^(AF)excels folly
As light excels darkness.
¹⁴^(AG)The wise man’s eyes are in his head,
But the fool walks in darkness.
Yet I myself perceived
That ^(AH)the same event happens to them all.

¹⁵So I said in my heart,
“As it happens to the fool,
It also happens to me,
And why was I then more wise?”
Then I said in my heart,
“This also is vanity.”
¹⁶For there is ^(AI)no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever,
Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come.
And how does a wise man die?
As the fool!

¹⁷Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

¹⁸Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because ^(AJ)I must leave it to the man who will come after me. ¹⁹And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. ²⁰Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun. ²¹For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his ^[n]heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. ²²^(AK)For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? ²³For all his days are ^(AL)sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.

²⁴^(AM)Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. ²⁵For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, ^[o]more than I? ²⁶For God gives ^(AN)wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that ^(AO)he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

Everything Has Its Time

3 To everything there is a season,
A ^(AP)time for every purpose under heaven:

²A time ^[p]to be born,
And ^(AQ)a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
³A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
⁴A time to ^(AR)weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
⁵A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
^(AS)A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
⁷A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
^(AT)A time to keep silence,
And a time to ^(AU)speak;
⁸A time to love,
And a time to ^(AV)hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.

The God-Given Task

⁹^(AW)What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? ¹⁰^(AX)I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. ¹¹He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that ^(AY)no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

¹²I know that nothing is ^(AZ)better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, ¹³and also that ^(BA)every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.

¹⁴I know that whatever God does,
It shall be forever.
^(BB)Nothing can be added to it,
And nothing taken from it.
God does it, that men should fear before Him.
¹⁵^(BC)That which is has already been,
And what is to be has already been;
And God ^[q]requires an account of ^[r]what is past.

Injustice Seems to Prevail

¹⁶Moreover ^(BD)I saw under the sun:

In the place of ^[s]judgment,
Wickedness was there;
And in the place of righteousness,
^[t]Iniquity was there.

¹⁷I said in my heart,

^(BE)“God shall judge the righteous and the wicked,
For there is a time there for every ^[u]purpose and for every work.”

¹⁸I said in my heart, “Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals.” ¹⁹^(BF)For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. ²⁰All go to one place: ^(BG)all are from the dust, and all return to dust. ²¹^(BH)Who^[v] knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth? ²²^(BI)So I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for ^(BJ)that is his ^[w]heritage. ^(BK)For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?

The Uselessness of Selfish Toil

4 Then I returned and considered all the ^(BL)oppression that is done under the sun:

And look! The tears of the oppressed,
But they have no comforter—
^[x]On the side of their oppressors there is power,
But they have no comforter.
²^(BM)Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead,
More than the living who are still alive.
³^(BN)Yet, better than both is he who has never existed,
Who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

The Vanity of Selfish Toil

⁴Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

⁵^(BO)The fool folds his hands
And consumes his own flesh.
⁶^(BP)Better a handful with quietness
Than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind.

⁷Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun:

⁸There is one alone, without ^[y]companion:
He has neither son nor brother.
Yet there is no end to all his labors,
Nor is his ^(BQ)eye satisfied with riches.
But ^(BR)he never asks,
“For whom do I toil and deprive myself of ^(BS)good?”
This also is vanity and a ^[z]grave misfortune.

The Value of a Friend

⁹Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
¹⁰For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
¹¹Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
¹²Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Popularity Passes Away

¹³Better a poor and wise youth
Than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more.
¹⁴For he comes out of prison to be king,
Although ^[aa]he was born poor in his kingdom.
¹⁵I saw all the living who walk under the sun;
They were with the second youth who stands in his place.
¹⁶There was no end of all the people ^[ab]over whom he was made king;
Yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in him.
Surely this also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

Footnotes

Ecclesiastes 1:2 Or Absurdity, Frustration, Futility, Nonsense; and so throughout the book
Ecclesiastes 1:3 labors
Ecclesiastes 1:5 Is eager for, lit. panting
Ecclesiastes 1:8 wearisome
Ecclesiastes 1:13 Or afflicted
Ecclesiastes 1:16 Lit. seen
Ecclesiastes 2:1 gladness
Ecclesiastes 2:3 Lit. to draw my flesh
Ecclesiastes 2:6 irrigate
Ecclesiastes 2:7 Lit. sons of my house
Ecclesiastes 2:8 Exact meaning unknown
Ecclesiastes 2:9 Lit. increased
Ecclesiastes 2:10 Lit. portion
Ecclesiastes 2:21 Lit. portion
Ecclesiastes 2:25 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; some Heb. mss., LXX, Syr. without Him
Ecclesiastes 3:2 Lit. to bear
Ecclesiastes 3:15 Lit. seeks
Ecclesiastes 3:15 what is pursued
Ecclesiastes 3:16 justice
Ecclesiastes 3:16 Wickedness
Ecclesiastes 3:17 desire
Ecclesiastes 3:21 LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. Who knows whether the spirit . . . goes upward, and whether . . . goes downward to the earth?
Ecclesiastes 3:22 portion or lot
Ecclesiastes 4:1 Lit. At the hand
Ecclesiastes 4:8 Lit. a second
Ecclesiastes 4:8 Lit. evil task
Ecclesiastes 4:14 The youth
Ecclesiastes 4:16 Lit. to all before whom he was to be

Ephesians 6

New King James Version

Children and Parents^(A)

6 Children, ^(B)obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ²^(C)“Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: ³“that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”

⁴And ^(D)you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but ^(E)bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

Bondservants and Masters

⁵^(F)Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, ^(G)with fear and trembling, ^(H)in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; ⁶^(I)not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, ⁷with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, ⁸^(J)knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

⁹And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that ^[a]your own ^(K)Master also is in heaven, and ^(L)there is no partiality with Him.

The Whole Armor of God

¹⁰Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ¹¹^(M)Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the ^[b]wiles of the devil. ¹²For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against ^(N)principalities, against powers, against ^(O)the rulers of ^[c]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³^(P)Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand ^(Q)in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴Stand therefore, ^(R)having girded your waist with truth, ^(S)having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵^(T)and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶above all, taking ^(U)the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷And ^(V)take the helmet of salvation, and ^(W)the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ¹⁸^(X)praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, ^(Y)being watchful to this end with all perseverance and ^(Z)supplication for all the saints— ¹⁹and for me, that utterance may be given to me, ^(AA)that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰for which ^(AB)I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

A Gracious Greeting

²¹But that you also may know my affairs and how I am doing, ^(AC)Tychicus, a beloved brother and ^(AD)faithful minister in the Lord, will make all things known to you; ²²^(AE)whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know our affairs, and that he may ^(AF)comfort your hearts.

²³Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.