1The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. ²Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. ³What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun?

⁴A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. ⁵The sun rises and the sun goes down, and hurries to the place where it rises. ⁶The wind blows to the south, and goes around to the north; round and round goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. ⁷All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they continue to flow. ⁸All things are wearisome; more than one can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing.

⁹What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun. ¹⁰Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has already been, in the ages before us. ¹¹The people of long ago are not remembered, nor will there be any remembrance of people yet to come by those who come after them.

¹²I, the Teacher, when king over Israel in Jerusalem, ¹³applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to human beings to be busy with. ¹⁴I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and a chasing after wind. ¹⁵What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted. ¹⁶I said to myself, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a chasing after wind. ¹⁸For in much wisdom is much vexation, and those who increase knowledge increase sorrow.

2I said to myself, “Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But again, this also was vanity. ²I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” ³I searched with my mind how to cheer my body with wine—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, until I might see what was good for mortals to do under heaven during the few days of their life. ⁴I made great works; I built houses and planted vineyards for myself; ⁵I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. ⁶I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. ⁷I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house; I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. ⁸I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and delights of the flesh, and many concubines. ⁹So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me. ¹⁰Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. ¹¹Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

¹²So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what can the one do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. ¹³Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. ¹⁴The wise have eyes in their head, but fools walk in darkness. Yet I perceived that the same fate befalls all of them. ¹⁵Then I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also; why then have I been so very wise?” And I said to myself that this also is vanity. ¹⁶For there is no enduring remembrance of the wise or of fools, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How can the wise die just like fools?

¹⁷So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind. ¹⁸I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to those who come after me ¹⁹—and who knows whether they will be wise or foolish? Yet they will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. ²⁰So I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun, ²¹because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. ²²What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? ²³For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.

Psalm 107

¹O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.

²Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those he redeemed from trouble

³and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

⁴Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to an inhabited town;

⁵hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.

⁶Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress;

⁷he led them by a straight way, until they reached an inhabited town.

⁸Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.

⁹For he satisfies the thirsty, and the hungry he fills with good things.

¹⁰Some sat in darkness and in gloom, prisoners in misery and in irons,

¹¹for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High.

¹²Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor; they fell down, with no one to help.

¹³Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress;

¹⁴he brought them out of darkness and gloom, and broke their bonds asunder.

¹⁵Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.

¹⁶For he shatters the doors of bronze, and cuts in two the bars of iron.

¹⁷Some were sick through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities endured affliction;

¹⁸they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.

¹⁹Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress;

²⁰he sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction.

²¹Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.

²²And let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices, and tell of his deeds with songs of joy.

²³Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the mighty waters;

²⁴they saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep.

²⁵For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.

²⁶They mounted up to heaven, they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their calamity;

²⁷they reeled and staggered like drunkards, and were at their wits’ end.

²⁸Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out from their distress;

²⁹he made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.

³⁰Then they were glad because they had quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.

³¹Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.

³²Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

³³He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground,

³⁴a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.

³⁵He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.

³⁶And there he lets the hungry live, and they establish a town to live in;

³⁷they sow fields, and plant vineyards, and get a fruitful yield.

³⁸By his blessing they multiply greatly, and he does not let their cattle decrease.

³⁹When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,

⁴⁰he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes;

⁴¹but he raises up the needy out of distress, and makes their families like flocks.

⁴²The upright see it and are glad; and all wickedness stops its mouth.

⁴³Let those who are wise give heed to these things, and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.

                                                                 OR

Psalm 49

¹Hear this, all you peoples; give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

²both low and high, rich and poor together.

³My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.

⁴I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will solve my riddle to the music of the harp.

⁵Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,

⁶those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches?

⁷Truly, no ransom avails for one’s life, there is no price one can give to God for it.

⁸For the ransom of life is costly, and can never suffice

⁹that one should live on forever and never see the grave.

¹⁰When we look at the wise, they die; fool and dolt perish together and leave their wealth to others.

¹¹Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they named lands their own.

¹²Mortals cannot abide in their pomp; they are like the animals that perish.

¹³Such is the fate of the foolhardy, the end of those who are pleased with their lot. Selah

¹⁴Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd; straight to the grave they descend, and their form shall waste away; Sheol shall be their home.

¹⁵But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah

¹⁶Do not be afraid when some become rich, when the wealth of their houses increases.

¹⁷For when they die they will carry nothing away; their wealth will not go down after them.

¹⁸Though in their lifetime they count themselves happy—for you are praised when you do well for yourself—

¹⁹they will go to the company of their ancestors, who will never again see the light.

²⁰Mortals cannot abide in their pomp; they are like the animals that perish.

Colossians 3:1-11