Leviticus 18

New International Version

Unlawful Sexual Relations

18 The Lord said to Moses, ²“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God.^(A) ³You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices.^(B) ⁴You must obey my laws^(C) and be careful to follow my decrees.^(D) I am the Lord your God.^(E) ⁵Keep my decrees and laws,^(F) for the person who obeys them will live by them.^(G) I am the Lord.

⁶“‘No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord.

⁷“‘Do not dishonor your father^(H) by having sexual relations with your mother.^(I) She is your mother; do not have relations with her.

⁸“‘Do not have sexual relations with your father’s wife;^(J) that would dishonor your father.^(K)

⁹“‘Do not have sexual relations with your sister,^(L) either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.^(M)

¹⁰“‘Do not have sexual relations with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter; that would dishonor you.

¹¹“‘Do not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife, born to your father; she is your sister.

¹²“‘Do not have sexual relations with your father’s sister;^(N) she is your father’s close relative.

¹³“‘Do not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister,^(O) because she is your mother’s close relative.

¹⁴“‘Do not dishonor your father’s brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations; she is your aunt.^(P)

¹⁵“‘Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law.^(Q) She is your son’s wife; do not have relations with her.^(R)

¹⁶“‘Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife;^(S) that would dishonor your brother.

¹⁷“‘Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter.^(T) Do not have sexual relations with either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter; they are her close relatives. That is wickedness.

¹⁸“‘Do not take your wife’s sister^(U) as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.

¹⁹“‘Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness^(V) of her monthly period.^(W)

²⁰“‘Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife^(X) and defile yourself with her.

²¹“‘Do not give any of your children^(Y) to be sacrificed to Molek,^(Z) for you must not profane the name of your God.^(AA) I am the Lord.^(AB)

²²“‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman;^(AC) that is detestable.^(AD)

²³“‘Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion.^(AE)

²⁴“‘Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you^(AF) became defiled.^(AG) ²⁵Even the land was defiled;^(AH) so I punished it for its sin,^(AI) and the land vomited out its inhabitants.^(AJ) ²⁶But you must keep my decrees and my laws.^(AK) The native-born and the foreigners residing among you must not do any of these detestable things, ²⁷for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. ²⁸And if you defile the land,^(AL) it will vomit you out^(AM) as it vomited out the nations that were before you.

²⁹“‘Everyone who does any of these detestable things—such persons must be cut off from their people. ³⁰Keep my requirements^(AN) and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the Lord your God.^(AO)’”

Ecclesiastes 1

New International Version

Everything Is Meaningless

1 The words of the Teacher,^[a]^(A) son of David, king in Jerusalem:^(B)

²“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”^(C)

³What do people gain from all their labors
    at which they toil under the sun?^(D)
⁴Generations come and generations go,
    but the earth remains forever.^(E)
⁵The sun rises and the sun sets,
    and hurries back to where it rises.^(F)
⁶The wind blows to the south
    and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
    ever returning on its course.
⁷All streams flow into the sea,
    yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
    there they return again.^(G)
⁸All things are wearisome,
    more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,^(H)
    nor the ear its fill of hearing.
⁹What has been will be again,
    what has been done will be done again;^(I)
    there is nothing new under the sun.
¹⁰Is there anything of which one can say,
    “Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
    it was here before our time.
¹¹No one remembers the former generations,^(J)
    and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
    by those who follow them.^(K)

Wisdom Is Meaningless

¹²I, the Teacher,^(L) was king over Israel in Jerusalem.^(M) ¹³I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens.^(N) What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!^(O) ¹⁴I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.^(P)

¹⁵What is crooked cannot be straightened;^(Q)
what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me;^(R) I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom,^(S) and also of madness and folly,^(T) but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

¹⁸For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;^(U)
the more knowledge, the more grief.^(V)

Footnotes

Ecclesiastes 1:1 Or the leader of the assembly; also in verses 2 and 12

Psalm 104

New International Version

Psalm 104

¹Praise the Lord, my soul.^(A)

Lord my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.^(B)

²The Lord wraps^(C) himself in light^(D) as with a garment;
    he stretches^(E) out the heavens^(F) like a tent^(G)
³    and lays the beams^(H) of his upper chambers on their waters.^(I)
He makes the clouds^(J) his chariot^(K)
    and rides on the wings of the wind.^(L)
⁴He makes winds his messengers,^[a]^(M)
    flames of fire^(N) his servants.

⁵He set the earth^(O) on its foundations;^(P)
    it can never be moved.
⁶You covered it^(Q) with the watery depths^(R) as with a garment;
    the waters stood^(S) above the mountains.
⁷But at your rebuke^(T) the waters fled,
    at the sound of your thunder^(U) they took to flight;
⁸they flowed over the mountains,
    they went down into the valleys,
    to the place you assigned^(V) for them.
⁹You set a boundary^(W) they cannot cross;
    never again will they cover the earth.

¹⁰He makes springs^(X) pour water into the ravines;
    it flows between the mountains.
¹¹They give water^(Y) to all the beasts of the field;
    the wild donkeys^(Z) quench their thirst.
¹²The birds of the sky^(AA) nest by the waters;
    they sing among the branches.^(AB)
¹³He waters the mountains^(AC) from his upper chambers;^(AD)
    the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.^(AE)
¹⁴He makes grass grow^(AF) for the cattle,
    and plants for people to cultivate—
    bringing forth food^(AG) from the earth:
¹⁵wine^(AH) that gladdens human hearts,
    oil^(AI) to make their faces shine,
    and bread that sustains^(AJ) their hearts.
¹⁶The trees of the Lord^(AK) are well watered,
    the cedars of Lebanon^(AL) that he planted.
¹⁷There the birds^(AM) make their nests;
    the stork has its home in the junipers.
¹⁸The high mountains belong to the wild goats;^(AN)
    the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.^(AO)

¹⁹He made the moon to mark the seasons,^(AP)
    and the sun^(AQ) knows when to go down.
²⁰You bring darkness,^(AR) it becomes night,^(AS)
    and all the beasts of the forest^(AT) prowl.
²¹The lions roar for their prey^(AU)
    and seek their food from God.^(AV)
²²The sun rises, and they steal away;
    they return and lie down in their dens.^(AW)
²³Then people go out to their work,^(AX)
    to their labor until evening.^(AY)

²⁴How many are your works,^(AZ) Lord!
    In wisdom you made^(BA) them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.^(BB)
²⁵There is the sea,^(BC) vast and spacious,
    teeming with creatures beyond number—
    living things both large and small.^(BD)
²⁶There the ships^(BE) go to and fro,
    and Leviathan,^(BF) which you formed to frolic^(BG) there.^(BH)

²⁷All creatures look to you
    to give them their food^(BI) at the proper time.
²⁸When you give it to them,
    they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
    they are satisfied^(BJ) with good things.
²⁹When you hide your face,^(BK)
    they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to the dust.^(BL)
³⁰When you send your Spirit,^(BM)
    they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.

³¹May the glory of the Lord^(BN) endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works^(BO)—
³²he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,^(BP)
who touches the mountains,^(BQ) and they smoke.^(BR)

³³I will sing^(BS) to the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
³⁴May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    as I rejoice^(BT) in the Lord.
³⁵But may sinners vanish^(BU) from the earth
    and the wicked be no more.^(BV)