| Date | Books | Memory Verses | Chapter Reading |
| 8/9 | Ecclesiastes | Eccl 7:5 | Eccl 1, 3, 7, 8, 11 |
7:5 It is better to obey the reprimand
of the wise
than to listen to the song of fools,
Eccl. 1:1 The words of the Teacher of the Assembly, David’s son, king in Jerusalem:
1:2 Perfectly pointless, says the Teacher, perfectly pointless.
Everything is pointless.
1:3 What do people gain
from all the hard work
that they work so hard at under the sun?
4 A generation goes,
and a generation comes,
but the earth remains as it always has.
5 The sun rises, the sun sets;
it returns panting to the place
where it dawns.
6 The wind blows to the south,
goes around to the north;
around and around blows the wind;
the wind returns to its rounds again.
7 All streams flow to the sea,
but the sea is never full;
to the place where the rivers flow,
there they continue to flow.
8 All words are tiring;
no one is able to speak.
The eye isn’t satisfied with seeing,
neither is the ear filled up by hearing.
9 Whatever has happened—
that’s what will happen again;
whatever has occurred—
that’s what will occur again.
There’s nothing new under the sun. 10 People may say about something: “Look at this! It’s new!” But it was already around for ages before us.
11 There’s no remembrance of things in the past, nor of things to come in the future. Neither will there be any remembrance among those who come along in the future.
1:12 I am the Teacher. I was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
1:13 I applied my mind to investigate and to explore by wisdom all that happens under heaven. It’s an unhappy obsession that God has given to human beings.
1:14 When I observed all that happens under the sun, I realized that everything is pointless, a chasing after wind.
1:15 What’s crooked can’t be straightened;
what isn’t there can’t be counted.
1:16 I said to myself, Look here, I have grown much wiser than any who ruled over Jerusalem before me. My mind has absorbed great wisdom and knowledge. 17 But when I set my mind to understand wisdom, and also to understand madness and folly, I realized that this too was just wind chasing.
1:18 Remember:
In much wisdom is much aggravation;
the more knowledge, the more pain.
3:1 There’s a season for everything
and a time for every matter
under the heavens:
3:2 a time for giving birth
and a time for dying,
a time for planting and a time for uprooting what was planted,
3:3 a time for killing and a time for healing,
a time for tearing down
and a time for building up,
3:4 a time for crying and a time for laughing,
a time for mourning
and a time for dancing,
5 a time for throwing stones
and a time for gathering stones,
a time for embracing
and a time for avoiding embraces,
6 a time for searching
and a time for losing,
a time for keeping
and a time for throwing away,
3:7 a time for tearing
and a time for repairing,
a time for keeping silent
and a time for speaking,
3:8 a time for loving and a time for hating,
a time for war and a time for peace.
3:9 What do workers gain from all their hard work? 10 I have observed the task that God has given human beings. 11 God has made everything fitting in its time, but has also placed eternity in their hearts, without enabling them to discover what God has done from beginning to end.
3:12 I know that there’s nothing better for them but to enjoy themselves and do what’s good while they live. 13 Moreover, this is the gift of God: that all people should eat, drink, and enjoy the results of their hard work. 14 I know that whatever God does will last forever; it’s impossible to add to it or take away from it. God has done this so that people are reverent before him. 15 Whatever happens has already happened, and whatever will happen has already happened before. And God looks after what is driven away.
3:16 I saw something else under the sun: in the place of justice, there was wickedness; and in the place of what was right, there was wickedness again! 17 I thought to myself, God will judge both righteous and wicked people, because there’s a time for every matter and every deed. 18 I also thought, Where human beings are concerned, God tests them to show them that they are but animals 19 because human beings and animals share the same fate. One dies just like the other—both have the same life-breath. Humans are no better off than animals because everything is pointless.
3:20 All go to the same place:
all are from the dust;
all return to the dust.
3:21 Who knows if a human being’s life-breath rises upward while an animal’s life-breath descends into the earth? 22 So I perceived that there was nothing better for human beings but to enjoy what they do because that’s what they’re allotted in life. Who, really, is able to see what will happen in the future?
7:1 A good name is better than fine oil,
and the day of death
better than the birthday.
2 It is better to go to a house in mourning
than to a house party,
because that is everyone’s destiny;
and the living should take it to heart.
7:3 Aggravation is better than merriment
because a sad face may
lead to a glad heart.
7:4 The wise heart
is in the house that mourns,
but the foolish heart
is in the house that rejoices.
7:5 It is better to obey the reprimand
of the wise
than to listen to the song of fools,
7:6 because the fool’s merriment
is like nettles crackling under a kettle.
That too is pointless.
7:7 Oppression turns the wise into fools;
a bribe corrupts the heart.
7:8 The end of something
is better than its beginning.
Patience is better than arrogance.
7:9 Don’t be too quick to get angry
because anger lives in the fool’s heart.
10 Don’t ask, “How is it that the former days were better than these?”
because it isn’t wise to ask this.
7:11 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance—
an advantage for those who see the sun.
7:12 Wisdom’s protection is
like the protection of money;
the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives
of its possessors.
7:13 Consider God’s work! Who can straighten what God has made crooked? 14 When times are good, enjoy the good; when times are bad, consider: God has made the former as well as the latter so that people can’t discover anything that will come to be after them.
7:15 I have seen everything in my pointless lifetime: the righteous person may die in spite of their righteousness; then again, the wicked may live long in spite of their wickedness. 16 Don’t be too righteous or too wise, or you may be dumbfounded. 17 Don’t be too wicked and don’t be a fool, or you may die before your time. 18 It’s good that you take hold of one of these without letting go of the other because the one who fears God will go forth with both.
7:19 Wisdom makes a wise person stronger than ten rulers who are in a city. 20 Remember: there’s no one on earth so righteous as to do good only and never make a mistake. 21 Don’t worry about all the things people say, so you don’t hear your servant cursing you. 22 After all, you know that you’ve often cursed others yourself!
7:23 I tested all of this by wisdom. I thought, I will be wise, but it eluded me.
7:24 All that happens is elusive and utterly unfathomable. Who can grasp it? 25 I turned my mind to know, to investigate, and to seek wisdom, along with an account of things, to know that wickedness is foolishness and folly is madness.
7:26 I found one woman more bitter than death: she who is a trap, her heart a snare, her hands shackles. Anyone who pleases God escapes her, but a sinner is trapped by her. 27 See, this is what I found, says the Teacher, examining one matter after another to account for things. 28 But there’s something that I constantly searched for but couldn’t find: I found one man among a thousand, but I couldn’t find a woman among any of these.
7:29 See, this alone I found: God made human beings straightforward, but they search for many complications.
8:1 Who is wise? And who knows
the meaning of anything?
A person’s wisdom
brightens the expression;
it changes the hardness
of someone’s face.
8:2 Keep the king’s command
as you would keep a solemn pledge.
8:3 Don’t be dismayed; leave his presence.
Don’t linger in a harmful situation
because he can do whatever he wants!
8:4 Because the king’s word has authority,
no one can say to him,
“What are you doing?”
8:5 Whoever keeps a command will meet no harm, and the wise heart knows the right time and the right way 6 because there’s a right time and right way for every matter. But human misfortunes are overwhelming 7 because no one knows what will happen, and no one can say when something might happen. 8 No one has control over the life-breath, to retain it, and there’s no control over the day of death. There’s no release from war, and wickedness won’t deliver those who practice it.
8:9 I observed all of this as I paid attention to all that happens under the sun. Sometimes people exercise power over each other to their detriment. 10 Then I saw the wicked brought to their graves, with people processing from a holy place, while those who had lived honestly were neglected in the city. This too is pointless.
8:11 The condemnation for wicked acts isn’t carried out quickly; that’s why people dare to do evil. 12 Wrongdoers may commit a hundred crimes but still live long lives. But I also know that it will go well for those who fear God, for those who are reverent before God. 13 But it will not go well for the wicked; they won’t live long at all because they aren’t reverent before God. 14 Here’s another thing that happens on earth that is pointless: the righteous get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked get what the righteous deserve. I say that this too is pointless.
8:15 So I commend enjoyment because there’s nothing better for people to do under the sun but to eat, drink, and be glad. This is what will accompany them in their hard work, during the lifetime that God gives under the sun.
8:16 Then I set my mind to know wisdom and to observe the business that happens on earth, even going without sleep day and night 17 I observed all the work of God—that no one can grasp what happens under the sun. Those who strive to know can’t grasp it. Even the wise who are set on knowing are unable to grasp it.
11:1 Send your bread out on the water because, in the course of time, you may find it again. 2 Give a portion to seven people, even to eight: you don’t know what disaster may come upon the land. 3 If clouds fill up, they will empty out rain on the earth. If a tree falls, whether to the south or to the north, wherever it falls, there it will lie. 4 Those who watch the wind blow will never sow, and those who observe the clouds will never reap. 5 Just as you don’t understand what the life-breath does in the fetus inside a pregnant woman’s womb, so you can’t understand the work of God, who makes everything happen. 6 Scatter your seed in the morning, and in the evening don’t be idle because you don’t know which will succeed, this one or that, or whether both will be equally good.
11:7 Sweet is the light, and it’s pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. 8 Even those who live many years should take pleasure in them all. But they should be mindful that there will also be many dark days. Everything that happens is pointless.
11:9 Rejoice, young person, while you are young! Your heart should make you happy in your prime. Follow your heart’s inclinations and whatever your eyes see, but know this: God will call you to account for all of these things. 10 Remove anxiety from your heart, banish pain from your body, because youth and the dawn of life are pointless too.
Translation is the Common English Bible
of the wise
than to listen to the song of fools,
Eccl. 1:1 The words of the Teacher of the Assembly, David’s son, king in Jerusalem:
1:2 Perfectly pointless, says the Teacher, perfectly pointless.
Everything is pointless.
1:3 What do people gain
from all the hard work
that they work so hard at under the sun?
4 A generation goes,
and a generation comes,
but the earth remains as it always has.
5 The sun rises, the sun sets;
it returns panting to the place
where it dawns.
6 The wind blows to the south,
goes around to the north;
around and around blows the wind;
the wind returns to its rounds again.
7 All streams flow to the sea,
but the sea is never full;
to the place where the rivers flow,
there they continue to flow.
8 All words are tiring;
no one is able to speak.
The eye isn’t satisfied with seeing,
neither is the ear filled up by hearing.
9 Whatever has happened—
that’s what will happen again;
whatever has occurred—
that’s what will occur again.
There’s nothing new under the sun. 10 People may say about something: “Look at this! It’s new!” But it was already around for ages before us.
11 There’s no remembrance of things in the past, nor of things to come in the future. Neither will there be any remembrance among those who come along in the future.
1:12 I am the Teacher. I was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
1:13 I applied my mind to investigate and to explore by wisdom all that happens under heaven. It’s an unhappy obsession that God has given to human beings.
1:14 When I observed all that happens under the sun, I realized that everything is pointless, a chasing after wind.
1:15 What’s crooked can’t be straightened;
what isn’t there can’t be counted.
1:16 I said to myself, Look here, I have grown much wiser than any who ruled over Jerusalem before me. My mind has absorbed great wisdom and knowledge. 17 But when I set my mind to understand wisdom, and also to understand madness and folly, I realized that this too was just wind chasing.
1:18 Remember:
In much wisdom is much aggravation;
the more knowledge, the more pain.
3:1 There’s a season for everything
and a time for every matter
under the heavens:
3:2 a time for giving birth
and a time for dying,
a time for planting and a time for uprooting what was planted,
3:3 a time for killing and a time for healing,
a time for tearing down
and a time for building up,
3:4 a time for crying and a time for laughing,
a time for mourning
and a time for dancing,
5 a time for throwing stones
and a time for gathering stones,
a time for embracing
and a time for avoiding embraces,
6 a time for searching
and a time for losing,
a time for keeping
and a time for throwing away,
3:7 a time for tearing
and a time for repairing,
a time for keeping silent
and a time for speaking,
3:8 a time for loving and a time for hating,
a time for war and a time for peace.
3:9 What do workers gain from all their hard work? 10 I have observed the task that God has given human beings. 11 God has made everything fitting in its time, but has also placed eternity in their hearts, without enabling them to discover what God has done from beginning to end.
3:12 I know that there’s nothing better for them but to enjoy themselves and do what’s good while they live. 13 Moreover, this is the gift of God: that all people should eat, drink, and enjoy the results of their hard work. 14 I know that whatever God does will last forever; it’s impossible to add to it or take away from it. God has done this so that people are reverent before him. 15 Whatever happens has already happened, and whatever will happen has already happened before. And God looks after what is driven away.
3:16 I saw something else under the sun: in the place of justice, there was wickedness; and in the place of what was right, there was wickedness again! 17 I thought to myself, God will judge both righteous and wicked people, because there’s a time for every matter and every deed. 18 I also thought, Where human beings are concerned, God tests them to show them that they are but animals 19 because human beings and animals share the same fate. One dies just like the other—both have the same life-breath. Humans are no better off than animals because everything is pointless.
3:20 All go to the same place:
all are from the dust;
all return to the dust.
3:21 Who knows if a human being’s life-breath rises upward while an animal’s life-breath descends into the earth? 22 So I perceived that there was nothing better for human beings but to enjoy what they do because that’s what they’re allotted in life. Who, really, is able to see what will happen in the future?
7:1 A good name is better than fine oil,
and the day of death
better than the birthday.
2 It is better to go to a house in mourning
than to a house party,
because that is everyone’s destiny;
and the living should take it to heart.
7:3 Aggravation is better than merriment
because a sad face may
lead to a glad heart.
7:4 The wise heart
is in the house that mourns,
but the foolish heart
is in the house that rejoices.
7:5 It is better to obey the reprimand
of the wise
than to listen to the song of fools,
7:6 because the fool’s merriment
is like nettles crackling under a kettle.
That too is pointless.
7:7 Oppression turns the wise into fools;
a bribe corrupts the heart.
7:8 The end of something
is better than its beginning.
Patience is better than arrogance.
7:9 Don’t be too quick to get angry
because anger lives in the fool’s heart.
10 Don’t ask, “How is it that the former days were better than these?”
because it isn’t wise to ask this.
7:11 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance—
an advantage for those who see the sun.
7:12 Wisdom’s protection is
like the protection of money;
the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives
of its possessors.
7:13 Consider God’s work! Who can straighten what God has made crooked? 14 When times are good, enjoy the good; when times are bad, consider: God has made the former as well as the latter so that people can’t discover anything that will come to be after them.
7:15 I have seen everything in my pointless lifetime: the righteous person may die in spite of their righteousness; then again, the wicked may live long in spite of their wickedness. 16 Don’t be too righteous or too wise, or you may be dumbfounded. 17 Don’t be too wicked and don’t be a fool, or you may die before your time. 18 It’s good that you take hold of one of these without letting go of the other because the one who fears God will go forth with both.
7:19 Wisdom makes a wise person stronger than ten rulers who are in a city. 20 Remember: there’s no one on earth so righteous as to do good only and never make a mistake. 21 Don’t worry about all the things people say, so you don’t hear your servant cursing you. 22 After all, you know that you’ve often cursed others yourself!
7:23 I tested all of this by wisdom. I thought, I will be wise, but it eluded me.
7:24 All that happens is elusive and utterly unfathomable. Who can grasp it? 25 I turned my mind to know, to investigate, and to seek wisdom, along with an account of things, to know that wickedness is foolishness and folly is madness.
7:26 I found one woman more bitter than death: she who is a trap, her heart a snare, her hands shackles. Anyone who pleases God escapes her, but a sinner is trapped by her. 27 See, this is what I found, says the Teacher, examining one matter after another to account for things. 28 But there’s something that I constantly searched for but couldn’t find: I found one man among a thousand, but I couldn’t find a woman among any of these.
7:29 See, this alone I found: God made human beings straightforward, but they search for many complications.
8:1 Who is wise? And who knows
the meaning of anything?
A person’s wisdom
brightens the expression;
it changes the hardness
of someone’s face.
8:2 Keep the king’s command
as you would keep a solemn pledge.
8:3 Don’t be dismayed; leave his presence.
Don’t linger in a harmful situation
because he can do whatever he wants!
8:4 Because the king’s word has authority,
no one can say to him,
“What are you doing?”
8:5 Whoever keeps a command will meet no harm, and the wise heart knows the right time and the right way 6 because there’s a right time and right way for every matter. But human misfortunes are overwhelming 7 because no one knows what will happen, and no one can say when something might happen. 8 No one has control over the life-breath, to retain it, and there’s no control over the day of death. There’s no release from war, and wickedness won’t deliver those who practice it.
8:9 I observed all of this as I paid attention to all that happens under the sun. Sometimes people exercise power over each other to their detriment. 10 Then I saw the wicked brought to their graves, with people processing from a holy place, while those who had lived honestly were neglected in the city. This too is pointless.
8:11 The condemnation for wicked acts isn’t carried out quickly; that’s why people dare to do evil. 12 Wrongdoers may commit a hundred crimes but still live long lives. But I also know that it will go well for those who fear God, for those who are reverent before God. 13 But it will not go well for the wicked; they won’t live long at all because they aren’t reverent before God. 14 Here’s another thing that happens on earth that is pointless: the righteous get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked get what the righteous deserve. I say that this too is pointless.
8:15 So I commend enjoyment because there’s nothing better for people to do under the sun but to eat, drink, and be glad. This is what will accompany them in their hard work, during the lifetime that God gives under the sun.
8:16 Then I set my mind to know wisdom and to observe the business that happens on earth, even going without sleep day and night 17 I observed all the work of God—that no one can grasp what happens under the sun. Those who strive to know can’t grasp it. Even the wise who are set on knowing are unable to grasp it.
11:1 Send your bread out on the water because, in the course of time, you may find it again. 2 Give a portion to seven people, even to eight: you don’t know what disaster may come upon the land. 3 If clouds fill up, they will empty out rain on the earth. If a tree falls, whether to the south or to the north, wherever it falls, there it will lie. 4 Those who watch the wind blow will never sow, and those who observe the clouds will never reap. 5 Just as you don’t understand what the life-breath does in the fetus inside a pregnant woman’s womb, so you can’t understand the work of God, who makes everything happen. 6 Scatter your seed in the morning, and in the evening don’t be idle because you don’t know which will succeed, this one or that, or whether both will be equally good.
11:7 Sweet is the light, and it’s pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. 8 Even those who live many years should take pleasure in them all. But they should be mindful that there will also be many dark days. Everything that happens is pointless.
11:9 Rejoice, young person, while you are young! Your heart should make you happy in your prime. Follow your heart’s inclinations and whatever your eyes see, but know this: God will call you to account for all of these things. 10 Remove anxiety from your heart, banish pain from your body, because youth and the dawn of life are pointless too.