Today’s Reading :  Ecclesiastes 9 – 12  and  1Peter 1   (KJV)

 Ecclesiastes 9

Ecc 9:1  For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.

Ecc 9:2  All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

Ecc 9:3  This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, 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.

Ecc 9:4  For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

Ecc 9:5  For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

Ecc 9:6  Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in any thing that is done under the sun.

Ecc 9:7  Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.

Ecc 9:8  Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.

Ecc 9:9  Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.

Ecc 9:10  Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

Ecc 9:11  I 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 favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Ecc 9:12  For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

Ecc 9:13  This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

Ecc 9:14  There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:

Ecc 9:15  Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

Ecc 9:16  Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

Ecc 9:17  The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

Ecc 9:18  Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

Ecclesiastes 10

Ecc 10:1  Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.

Ecc 10:2  A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left.

Ecc 10:3  Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool.

Ecc 10:4  If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences.

Ecc 10:5  There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler:

Ecc 10:6  Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.

Ecc 10:7  I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.

Ecc 10:8  He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.

Ecc 10:9  Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby.

Ecc 10:10  If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.

Ecc 10:11  Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.

Ecc 10:12  The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.

Ecc 10:13  The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.

Ecc 10:14  A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?

Ecc 10:15  The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.

Ecc 10:16  Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!

Ecc 10:17  Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

Ecc 10:18  By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.

Ecc 10:19  A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.

Ecc 10:20  Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.

Ecclesiastes 11

Ecc 11:1  Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.

Ecc 11:2  Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

Ecc 11:3  If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.

Ecc 11:4  He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.

Ecc 11:5  As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.

Ecc 11:6  In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

Ecc 11:7  Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:

Ecc 11:8  But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.

Ecc 11:9  Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

Ecc 11:10  Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

Ecclesiastes 12

Ecc 12:1  Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

Ecc 12:2  While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:

Ecc 12:3  In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,

Ecc 12:4  And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low;

Ecc 12:5  Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:

Ecc 12:6  Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

Ecc 12:7  Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Ecc 12:8  Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.

Ecc 12:9  And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

Ecc 12:10  The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.

Ecc 12:11  The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

Ecc 12:12  And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

Ecc 12:13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Ecc 12:14  For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

1Peter 1

1Pe 1:1  Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

1Pe 1:2  Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1Pe 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold thatperisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

1Pe 1:8  Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

1Pe 1:13  Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

1Pe 1:14  As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

1Pe 1:15  But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

1Pe 1:16  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

1Pe 1:17  And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

1Pe 1:18  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

1Pe 1:19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

1Pe 1:20  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

1Pe 1:21  Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

1Pe 1:22  Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

1Pe 1:23  Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.

1Pe 1:24  For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

1Pe 1:25  But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.