Ecclesiastes 7 (Listen)

The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly

1   A good name is better than precious ointment,
    and the day of death than the day of birth.
2   It is better to go to the house of mourning
    than to go to the house of feasting,
  for this is the end of all mankind,
    and the living will lay it to heart.
3   Sorrow is better than laughter,
    for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
4   The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
    but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5   It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
    than to hear the song of fools.
6   For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,
    so is the laughter of the fools;
    this also is vanity.
7   Surely oppression drives the wise into madness,
    and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8   Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
    and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
9   Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,
    for anger lodges in the heart of fools.
10   Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”
    For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
11   Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
    an advantage to those who see the sun.
12   For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,
    and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
13   Consider the work of God:
    who can make straight what he has made crooked?

14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

15 In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.

23 All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?

25 I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things—28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

(ESV)

Proverbs 30 (Listen)

The Words of Agur

1 The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.

  The man declares, I am weary, O God;
    I am weary, O God, and worn out.
2   Surely I am too stupid to be a man.
    I have not the understanding of a man.
3   I have not learned wisdom,
    nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.
4   Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
    Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
  Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
    Who has established all the ends of the earth?
  What is his name, and what is his son’s name?
    Surely you know!
5   Every word of God proves true;
    he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
6   Do not add to his words,
    lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.
7   Two things I ask of you;
    deny them not to me before I die:
8   Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
    give me neither poverty nor riches;
    feed me with the food that is needful for me,
9   lest I be full and deny you
    and say, “Who is the LORD?”
  or lest I be poor and steal
    and profane the name of my God.
10   Do not slander a servant to his master,
    lest he curse you, and you be held guilty.
11   There are those who curse their fathers
    and do not bless their mothers.
12   There are those who are clean in their own eyes
    but are not washed of their filth.
13   There are those—how lofty are their eyes,
    how high their eyelids lift!
14   There are those whose teeth are swords,
    whose fangs are knives,
  to devour the poor from off the earth,
    the needy from among mankind.
15   The leech has two daughters:
    Give and Give.
  Three things are never satisfied;
    four never say, “Enough”:
16   Sheol, the barren womb,
    the land never satisfied with water,
    and the fire that never says, “Enough.”
17   The eye that mocks a father
    and scorns to obey a mother
  will be picked out by the ravens of the valley
    and eaten by the vultures.
18   Three things are too wonderful for me;
    four I do not understand:
19   the way of an eagle in the sky,
    the way of a serpent on a rock,
  the way of a ship on the high seas,
    and the way of a man with a virgin.
20   This is the way of an adulteress:
    she eats and wipes her mouth
    and says, “I have done no wrong.”
21   Under three things the earth trembles;
    under four it cannot bear up:
22   a slave when he becomes king,
    and a fool when he is filled with food;
23   an unloved woman when she gets a husband,
    and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.
24   Four things on earth are small,
    but they are exceedingly wise:
25   the ants are a people not strong,
    yet they provide their food in the summer;
26   the rock badgers are a people not mighty,
    yet they make their homes in the cliffs;
27   the locusts have no king,
    yet all of them march in rank;
28   the lizard you can take in your hands,
    yet it is in kings’ palaces.
29   Three things are stately in their tread;
    four are stately in their stride:
30   the lion, which is mightiest among beasts
    and does not turn back before any;
31   the strutting rooster, the he-goat,
    and a king whose army is with him.
32   If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,
    or if you have been devising evil,
    put your hand on your mouth.
33   For pressing milk produces curds,
    pressing the nose produces blood,
    and pressing anger produces strife.

(ESV)

Psalm 4 (Listen)

Answer Me When I Call

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.

1   Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
    You have given me relief when I was in distress.
    Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!
2   O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
    How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah
3   But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;
    the LORD hears when I call to him.
4   Be angry, and do not sin;
    ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah
5   Offer right sacrifices,
    and put your trust in the LORD.
6   There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
    Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!”
7   You have put more joy in my heart
    than they have when their grain and wine abound.
8   In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
    for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

(ESV)