Holy Bible Audio: ECCLESIASTES 1 to 12 - With Text (Contemporary English)

[Music] ecclesiastes ecclesiastes chapter 1 when the son of david was king in jerusalem he was known to be very wise and he said nothing makes sense everything is nonsense i have seen it all nothing makes sense what is there to show for all of our hard work here on this earth people come and people go but still the world never changes the sun comes up the sun goes down it hurries right back to where it started from the wind blows south the wind blows north round and round it blows over and over again all rivers empty into the sea but it never spills over one by one the rivers return to their source all of life is far more boring than words could ever say our eyes and our ears are never satisfied with what we see and hear everything that happens has happened before nothing is new nothing under the sun someone might say here is something new but it happened before long before we were born no one who lived in the past is remembered anymore and everyone yet to be born will be forgotten too i said these things when i lived in jerusalem as king of israel with all my wisdom i try to understand everything that happens here on earth and god has made this so hard for us humans to do i have seen it all and everything is just as senseless as chasing the wind if something is crooked it can't be made straight if something isn't there it can't be counted i said to myself you are by far the wisest person who has ever lived in jerusalem you are eager to learn and you have learned a lot then i decided to find out all i could about wisdom and foolishness soon i realized that this too was as senseless as chasing the wind the more you know the more you hurt the more you understand the more you suffer ecclesiastes chapter 2 i said to myself have fun and enjoy yourself but this didn't make sense laughing and having fun is crazy what good does it do i wanted to find out what was best for us during the short time we have on this earth so i decided to make myself happy with wine and find out what it means to be foolish without really being foolish myself i did some great things i built houses and planted vineyards i had flower gardens and orchards full of fruit trees and i had pools where i could get water for the trees i owned slaves and their sons and daughters became my slaves i had more sheep and goats than anyone who had ever lived in jerusalem foreign rulers brought me silver gold and precious treasures men and women sang for me and i had many wives who gave me great pleasure i was the most famous person who had ever lived in jerusalem and i was very wise i got whatever i wanted and did whatever made me happy but most of all i enjoyed my work then i thought about everything i had done including the hard work and it was simply chasing the wind nothing on earth is worth the trouble i asked myself what can the next king do that i haven't done then i decided to compare wisdom with foolishness and stupidity and i discovered that wisdom is better than foolishness just as light is better than darkness wisdom is like having two good eyes foolishness leaves you in the dark but wise or foolish we all end up the same finally i said to myself being wise got me nowhere the same thing will happen to me that happens to fools nothing makes sense wise or foolish we all die and are soon forgotten this made me hate life everything we do is painful it's just as senseless as chasing the wind suddenly i realized that others would someday get everything i had worked for so hard then i started hating it all who knows if those people will be sensible or stupid either way they will own everything i have earned by hard work and wisdom it doesn't make sense i thought about all my hard work and i felt depressed when we use our wisdom knowledge and skill to get what we own why do we have to leave it to someone who didn't work for it this is senseless and wrong what do we really gain from all of our hard work our bodies ache during the day and work is torture then at night our thoughts are troubled it just doesn't make sense the best thing we can do is to enjoy eating drinking and working i believe these are god's gifts to us and no one enjoys eating and living more than i do if we please god he will make us wise understanding and happy but if we sin god will make us struggle for a living then he will give all we own to someone who pleases him this makes no more sense than chasing the wind [Music] ecclesiastes chapter 3 everything on earth has its own time and its own season there is a time for birth and death planting and reaping for killing and healing destroying and building for crying and laughing weeping and dancing for throwing stones and gathering stones embracing and parting there is a time for finding and losing keeping and giving for tearing and sowing listening and speaking there is also a time for love and hate for war and peace what do we gain by all of our hard work i have seen what difficult things god demands of us god makes everything happen at the right time yet none of us can ever fully understand all he has done and he puts questions in our minds about the past and the future i know the best thing we can do is to always enjoy life because god's gift to us is the happiness we get from our food and drink and from the work we do everything god has done will last forever nothing he does can ever be changed god has done all this so that we will worship him everything that happens has happened before and all that will be has already been god does everything over and over again everywhere on earth i saw violence and injustice instead of fairness and justice so i told myself that god has set a time and a place for everything he will judge everyone both the wicked and the good i know that god is testing us to show us that we are merely animals like animals we breathe and die and we are no better off than they are it just doesn't make sense all living creatures go to the same place we are made from earth and we return to the earth who really knows if our spirits go up and the spirits of the animals go down into the earth we were meant to enjoy our work and that's the best thing we can do we can never know the future ecclesiastes chapter 4 i looked again and saw people being mistreated everywhere on earth they were crying but no one was there to offer comfort and those who mistreated them were powerful i said to myself the dead are better off than the living but those who have never been born are better off than anyone else because they have never seen the terrible things that happen on this earth then i realize that we work and do wonderful things just because we are jealous of others this makes no more sense than chasing the wind fools will fold their hands and starve to death yet a very little food eaten in peace is better than twice as much earned from overwork and chasing the wind once again i saw that nothing on earth makes sense for example some people don't have friends or family but they are never satisfied with what they own and they never stop working to get more they should ask themselves why am i always working to have more who will get what i leave behind what a senseless and miserable life you are better off to have a friend than to be all alone because then you will get more enjoyment out of what you earn if you fall your friend can help you up but if you fall without having a friend nearby you are really in trouble if you sleep alone you won't have anyone to keep you warm on a cold night someone might be able to beat up one of you but not both of you as the saying goes a rope made from three strands of cord is hard to break you may be poor and young but if you are wise you are better off than a foolish old king who won't listen to advice even if you were not born into the royal family and have been a prisoner and poor you can still be king i once saw everyone in the world follow a young leader who came to power after the king was gone his followers could not even be counted but years from now no one will praise him this makes no more sense than chasing the wind ecclesiastes chapter 5 be careful what you do when you enter the house of god some fools go there to offer sacrifices even though they haven't sinned but it's best just to listen when you go to worship don't talk before you think or make promises to god without thinking them through god is in heaven and you are on earth so don't talk too much if you keep thinking about something you will dream about it if you talk too much you will say the wrong thing god doesn't like fools so don't be slow to keep your promises to god it's better not to make a promise at all than to make one and not keep it don't let your mouth get you in trouble and don't say to the worship leader i didn't mean what i said god can destroy everything you have worked for so don't say something that makes god angry respect and obey god daydreaming leads to a lot of senseless talk don't be surprised if the poor of your country are abused and injustice takes the place of justice after all the lower officials must do what the higher ones order them to do and since the king is the highest official he benefits most from the taxes paid on the land if you love money and wealth you will never be satisfied with what you have this doesn't make sense either the more you have the more everyone expects from you your money won't do you any good others will just spend it for you if you have to work hard for a living you can rest well at night even if you don't have much to eat but if you are rich you can't even sleep i have seen something terribly unfair people get rich but it does them no good suddenly they lose everything in a bad business deal then have nothing to leave for their children they came into this world naked and when they die they will be just as naked they can't take anything with them and they won't have anything to show for all their work that's terribly unfair they leave the world just as they came into it they gained nothing from running after the wind besides all this they are always gloomy at meal time and they are troubled sick and bitter what is the best thing to do in the short life that god has given us i think we should enjoy eating drinking and working hard this is what god intends for us to do suppose you are very rich and able to enjoy everything you own then go ahead and enjoy working hard this is god's gift to you god will keep you so happy that you won't have time to worry about each day ecclesiastes chapter 6 there is something else terribly unfair and it troubles everyone on earth god may give you everything you want money property and wealth then god doesn't let you enjoy it and someone you don't even know gets it all that's senseless and terribly unfair you may live a long time and have a hundred children but a child born dead is better off than you unless you enjoy life and have a decent burial that child will never live to see the sun or have a name and it will go straight to the world of darkness but it will still find more rest than you even if you live two thousand years and don't enjoy life as you know we all end up in the same place we struggle just to have enough to eat but we are never satisfied we may be sensible that we are no better off than a fool and if we are poor it still doesn't do us any good to try to live right it's better to enjoy what we have than to always want something else because that makes no more sense than chasing the wind everything that happens was decided long ago we humans know what we are like and we can't argue with god because he is too strong for us the more we talk the less sense we make so what good does it do to talk life is short and meaningless and it fades away like a shadow who knows what is best for us who knows what will happen after we are gone ecclesiastes chapter 7 a good reputation at the time of death is better than loving care at the time of birth it's better to go to a funeral than to attend a feast funerals remind us that we all must die choose sorrow over laughter because a sad face may hide a happy heart a sensible person mourns but fools always laugh harsh correction is better than the songs of a fool foolish laughter is stupid it sounds like thorns crackling in a fire corruption makes fools of sensible people and bribes can ruin you something completed is better than something just begun patience is better than too much pride only fools get angry quickly and hold a grudge it isn't wise to ask why is everything worse than it used to be having wisdom is better than an inheritance wisdom will protect you just like money knowledge with good sense will lead you to life think of what god has done if god makes something crooked can you make it straight when times are good you should be cheerful when times are bad think what it means god makes them both to keep us from knowing what will happen next i have seen everything during this senseless life of mine i have seen good citizens die for doing the right thing and i have seen criminals live to a ripe old age so don't destroy yourself by being too good or acting too smart don't die before your time by being too evil or acting like a fool keep to the middle of the road you can do this if you truly respect god wisdom will make you stronger than the 10 most powerful leaders in your city no one in this world always does right don't listen to everything that everyone says or you might hear your servant cursing you haven't you cursed many others i told myself that i would be smart and try to understand all of this but it was too much for me the truth is beyond us it's far too deep so i decided to learn everything i could and become wise enough to discover what life is all about at the same time i wanted to understand why it's stupid and senseless to be an evil fool here is what i discovered a bad woman is worse than death she is a trap reaching out with body and soul to catch you but if you obey god you can escape if you don't obey you are done for with all my wisdom i have tried to find out how everything fits together but so far i have not been able to i do know there is one good man in a thousand but never have i found a good woman i did learn one thing we were completely honest when god created us but now we have twisted minds [Music] ecclesiastes chapter 8 who is smart enough to explain everything wisdom makes you cheerful and gives you a smile if you promised god that you would be loyal to the king i advise you to keep that promise don't quickly oppose the king or argue when he has already made up his mind the king's word is law no one can ask him why are you doing this if you obey the king you will stay out of trouble so be smart and learn what to do and when to do it life is hard but there is a time and a place for everything though no one can tell the future we cannot control the wind or determine the day of our death there is no escape in time of war and no one can hide behind evil i noticed all this and thought seriously about what goes on in the world why does one person have the power to hurt another i saw the wicked buried with honor but god's people had to leave the holy city and were forgotten none of this makes sense when we see criminals commit crime after crime without being punished it makes us want to start a life of crime they commit hundreds of crimes and live to a ripe old age in spite of the saying everyone who lives right and respects god will prosper but no one who sins and rejects god will prosper or live very long there is something else that doesn't make sense to me good citizens are treated as criminals while criminals are honored as though they were good citizens so i think we should get as much out of life as we possibly can there is nothing better than to enjoy our food and drink and to have a good time then we can make it through this troublesome life that god has given us here on earth day and night i went without sleep trying to understand what goes on in this world i saw everything god does and i realize that no one can really understand what happens we may be very wise but no matter how much we try or how much we claim to know we cannot understand it all ecclesiastes chapter 9 i thought about these things then i understood that god has power over everyone even those of us who are wise and live right anything can happen to any of us and so we never know if life will be good or bad but exactly the same thing will finally happen to all of us whether we live right and respect god or sin and don't respect god yes the same thing will happen if we offer sacrifices to god or if we don't if we keep our promises or break them it's terribly unfair for the same thing to happen to each of us we are mean and foolish while we live and then we die as long as we are alive we still have hope just as a live dog is better off than a dead lion we know that we will die but the dead don't know a thing nothing good will happen to them they are gone and forgotten their loves their hates and their jealous feelings have all disappeared with them they will never again take part in anything that happens on this earth be happy and enjoy eating and drinking god decided long ago that this is what you should do dress up comb your hair and look your best life is short and you love your wife so enjoy being with her this is what you are supposed to do as you struggle through life on this earth work hard at whatever you do you will soon go to the world of the dead where no one works or thinks or reasons or knows anything here is something else i have learned the fastest runners and the greatest heroes don't always win races and battles wisdom intelligence and skill don't always make you healthy rich or popular we each have our share of bad luck none of us know when we might fall victim to a sudden disaster and find ourselves like fish in a net or birds in a trap once i saw what people really think of wisdom it happened when a powerful ruler surrounded and attacked a small city where only a few people lived the enemy army was getting ready to break through the city walls but the city was saved by the wisdom of a poor person who was soon forgotten so i decided that wisdom is better than strength yet if you are poor no one pays any attention to you no matter how smart you are words of wisdom spoken softly make much more sense than the shouts of a ruler to a crowd of fools wisdom is more powerful than weapons yet one mistake can destroy all the good you have done ecclesiastes chapter 10 a few dead flies in perfume make all of it stink and a little foolishness outweighs a lot of wisdom sensible thoughts lead you to do right foolish thoughts lead you to do wrong fools show their stupidity by the way they live it's easy to see they have no sense don't give up your job when your boss gets angry if you stay calm you'll be forgiven some things rulers do are terribly unfair they honor fools but dishonor the rich they let slaves ride on horses but force slave owners to walk if you dig a pit you might fall in if you break down a wall a snake might bite you you could even get hurt by chiseling a stone or chopping a log if you don't sharpen your axe it'll be harder to use if you are smart you'll know what to do the power to charm a snake does you no good if it bites you anyway if you talk sensibly you will have friends if you talk foolishly you will destroy yourself fools begin with nonsense and their stupid chatter ends with disaster they never tire of talking but none of us really know what the future will bring fools wear themselves out they don't know enough to find their way home a country is in for trouble when its ruler is childish and its leaders party all day long but a nation will prosper when its ruler is mature and its leaders don't party too much some people are too lazy to fix a leaky roof then the house falls in eating and drinking make you feel happy and bribes can buy everything you need don't even think about cursing the king don't curse the rich not even in secret a little bird might hear and tell everything ecclesiastes chapter 11 be generous and someday you will be rewarded share what you have with seven or eight others because you never know when disaster may strike rain clouds always bring rain trees always stay wherever they fall if you worry about the weather and don't plant seeds you won't harvest a crop no one can explain how a baby breathes before it is born so how can anyone explain what god does after all he created everything plant your seeds early in the morning and keep working in the field until dark who knows your work might pay off and your seeds might produce nothing on earth is more beautiful than the morning sun even if you live to a ripe old age you should try to enjoy each day because darkness will come and will last a long time nothing makes sense be cheerful and enjoy life while you are young do what you want and find pleasure in what you see but don't forget that god will judge you for everything you do rid yourself of all worry and pain because the wonderful moments of youth quickly disappear ecclesiastes chapter 12 keep your creator in mind while you are young in years to come you will be burdened down with troubles and say i don't enjoy life anymore someday the light of the sun and the moon in the stars will all seem dim to you rain clouds will remain over your head your body will grow feeble your teeth will decay and your eyesight fail the noisy grinding of grain will be shut out by your deaf ears but even the song of a bird will keep you awake you will be afraid to climb up a hill or walk down a road your hair will turn as white as almond blossoms you will feel lifeless and drag along like an old grasshopper we each go to our eternal home and the streets are filled with those who mourn the silver cord snaps the golden bowl breaks the water picture is smashed and the pulley at the well is shattered so our bodies return to the earth and the life-giving breath returns to god nothing makes sense i have seen it all nothing makes sense i was a wise teacher with much understanding and i collected a number of proverbs that i had carefully studied then i try to explain these things in the best and most accurate way words of wisdom are like the stick a farmer uses to make animals move these sayings come from god our only shepherd and they are like nails that fasten things together my child i warn you to stay away from any teachings except these there is no end to books and too much study will wear you out everything you were taught can be put into a few words respect and obey god this is what life is all about god will judge everything we do even what is done in secret whether good or bad [Music] you

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Id: kNU9iP29STs

Length: 30min 15sec (1815 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 22 2020