Day 244 of 730

¹For all this I laid to my heart, even to explore all this: that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; whether it is love or hatred, man doesn't know it; all is before them.

²All things come alike to all. There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the good, to the clean, to the unclean, to him who sacrifices, and to him who doesn't sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner; he who takes an oath, as he who fears an oath.

³This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event to all: yes also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

⁴For to him who is joined with all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

⁵For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything, neither do they have any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

⁶Also their love, their hatred, and their envy has perished long ago; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.

⁷Go your way-eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works.

⁸Let your garments be always white, and do not let your head lack oil.

⁹Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your life of vanity, which he has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity: for that is your portion in life, and in your labor in which you labor under the sun.

¹⁰Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.

¹¹I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.

¹²For man also doesn't know his time. As the fish that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly on them.

¹³I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.

¹⁴There was a little city, and few men within it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great siege works against it.

¹⁵Now a poor wise man was found in it, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

¹⁶Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

¹⁷The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him who rules among fools.

¹⁸Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.

¹Dead flies cause the oil of the perfumer to send forth an evil odor; so does a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor.

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

³Yes also, when the fool walks by the way, his understanding fails him, and he says to everyone that he is a fool.

⁴If the spirit of the ruler rises up against you, do not leave your place; for gentleness lays great offenses to rest.

⁵There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, the sort of error which proceeds from the ruler.

⁶Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in a low place.

⁷I have seen servants on horses, and princes walking like servants on the earth.

⁸He who digs a pit may fall into it; and whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.

⁹Whoever carves out stones may be injured by them. Whoever splits wood may be endangered thereby.

¹⁰If the axe is blunt, and one doesn't sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength; but skill brings success.

¹¹If the snake bites before it is charmed, then is there no profit for the charmer's tongue.

¹²The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but a fool is swallowed by his own lips.

¹³The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness; and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.

¹⁴A fool also multiplies words. Man doesn't know what will be; and that which will be after him, who can tell him?

¹⁵The labor of fools wearies every one of them; for he doesn't know how to go to the city.

¹⁶Woe to you, land, when your king is a child, and your princes eat in the morning!

¹⁷Happy are you, land, when your king is the son of nobles, and your princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

¹⁸By slothfulness the roof sinks in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaks.

¹⁹A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes the life glad; and money is the answer for all things.

²⁰Do not curse the king, no, not in your thoughts; and do not curse the rich in your bedchamber: for a bird of the sky may carry your voice, and that which has wings may tell the matter.

¹Lord, you God to whom vengeance belongs, you God to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth.

²Rise up, you judge of the earth. Pay back the proud what they deserve.

³Lord, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked triumph?

⁴They pour out arrogant words. All the evildoers boast.

⁵They break your people in pieces, Lord, and afflict your heritage.

⁶They kill the widow and the alien, and murder the fatherless.

⁷They say, "Yah will not see, neither will Jacob's God consider."

⁸Consider, you senseless among the people; you fools, when will you be wise?

⁹He who implanted the ear, won't he hear? He who formed the eye, won't he see?

¹⁰He who disciplines the nations, won't he punish? He who teaches man knows.

¹¹The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.

¹²Blessed is the man whom you discipline, Yah, and teach out of your Law;

¹³that you may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit is dug for the wicked.

¹⁴For the Lord won't reject his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.

¹⁵For judgment will return to righteousness. All the upright in heart shall follow it.

¹⁶Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will stand up for me against the evildoers?

¹⁷Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul would have soon lived in silence.

¹⁸When I said, "My foot is slipping!" Your loving kindness, Lord, held me up.

¹⁹In the multitude of my thoughts within me, your comforts delight my soul.

²⁰Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with you, which brings about mischief by statute?

²¹They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.

²²But the Lord has been my high tower, my God, the rock of my refuge.

²³He has brought on them their own iniquity, and will cut them off in their own wickedness. The Lord, our God, will cut them off.

¹Do not boast about tomorrow; for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

²Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.

³A stone is heavy, and sand is a burden; but a fool's provocation is heavier than both.

⁴Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?

⁵Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

⁶Faithful are the wounds of a friend; although the kisses of an enemy are profuse.

⁷A full soul loathes a honeycomb; but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet.

⁸As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who wanders from his home.

⁹Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart; so does earnest counsel from a man's friend.

¹⁰Do not forsake your friend and your father's friend. Do not go to your brother's house in the day of your disaster: better is a neighbor who is near than a distant brother.

¹¹Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, then I can answer my tormentor.

¹²A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.

¹³Take his garment when he puts up collateral for a stranger. Hold it for a wayward woman!

¹⁴He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse by him.

¹⁵A continual dropping on a rainy day and a contentious wife are alike:

¹⁶restraining her is like restraining the wind, or like grasping oil in his right hand.

¹⁷Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend's countenance.

¹⁸Whoever tends the fig tree shall eat its fruit. He who looks after his master shall be honored.

¹⁹As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man.

²⁰Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man's eyes are never satisfied.

²¹The crucible is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but man is refined by his praise.

²²Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain, yet his foolishness will not be removed from him.

²³Know well the state of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds:

²⁴for riches are not forever, nor does even the crown endure to all generations.

²⁵The hay is removed, and the new growth appears, the grasses of the hills are gathered in.

²⁶The lambs are for your clothing, and the goats are the price of a field.

²⁷There will be plenty of goats' milk for your food, for your family's food, and for the nourishment of your servant girls.