But further, Qohelet was greatly wise
and also taught the people knowledge
and weighed and sought out and arranged many proverbs.

Qohelet sought out to find delightful words
and to write accurately truthful words

¹¹ Words of the wise people, are like cattle goads;
like fixed nails are the ‘Masters of Collections’-
They were given by one Shepherd.

¹²But further, beyond these, my child, beware.
Of the making of many books there is no end,
and much study is a wearying of the body.

¹³The end of the thing; everything has been heard.
Be in awe of God and keep his commands,
because this is for everyone.
¹⁴Because God brings every action to judgement,
including everything hidden, whether good or bad.

Keep us, O Lord, while we tarry on this earth,
in a serious seeking after thee,
and in an affectionate walking with thee,
every day of our lives;
that when thou comest,
we may be found not hiding our talent,
nor yet asleep with our lamp unfurnished,
but waiting and longing for our Lord,
our glorious King, for ever and ever.

Richard Baxter (1615-1691)

So be mindful of your creator in the days of your youth –
before the evil days come,
and the years arrive in which you’ll say,
‘For me there is no pleasure in them’ –

²before the sun, the light of (and) the moon and the stars go dark,     
and the clouds come back after the rain…
³On the day when the guards of the house tremble,
and the strong men are bent over.
The women who grind stop because they are few,
and the women who look through the windows get dark.
⁴The gateways in (i.e to) the street are shut,
and the sound of the mill becomes low.
One gets up at the voice of a bird,
and all the singing girls are bowed over.
⁵Also, people are afraid of lofty people
and terrors on the road.
The almond blossoms,
the grasshopper grows fat,
and the caperberry fails.
But the human being is going to their eternal home
and the mourners are coming round in the street –

⁶Before the silver cord is removed,
and the gold bowl breaks,
and the jar shatters at the spring,
and the wheel is shattered at the cistern,
⁷The ‘dust’ returns to the earth as it was,
and the spirit goes back to the God who gave it.

⁸Absolutely mere-breath, said Qoheleth,
everything is mere-breath.

Keep us, O Lord, while we tarry on this earth,
in a serious seeking after thee,
and in an affectionate walking with thee,
every day of our lives;
that when thou comest,
we may be found not hiding our talent,
nor yet asleep with our lamp unfurnished,
but waiting and longing for our Lord,
our glorious King, for ever and ever.

Richard Baxter (1615-1691)

⁷ But sweet is the light
and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.
⁸Because if a person lives many years,
they will rejoice in all of them.
But they will be mindful of the days of darkness,
because they will be many;
everything that will come is mere-breath.

⁹Rejoice, young man, during your youth;
your heart will make you feel good in the days of your youth.
Walk about in the ways of your heart
and in the sights of your eyes.
But know that for all these things
God will bring you to judgement.
¹⁰So remove vexation from your heart
and make what is wicked pass from your body
Because youth and vigour are mere-breath,

Eternal Light, shine into our hearts;
Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil;
Eternal Power, be our support;
Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance:
That we may seek your face
with all our heart and mind and soul and strength. Amen.

Alcuin

Send your bread on the face of the water,
because in an abundance of days you will find it.
²Give a portion to seven or even to eight,
because you do not know what bad thing
may happen on the earth.
³If the clouds fill,
they will pour down rain on the land;
If a tree falls
on the south or on the north,
In the place where the tree falls,
there it will be.
⁴Someone who keeps watch on the wind will not sow,
and someone who sees the clouds will not reap.
⁵As you don’t know the way of the wind,
like the bones in the womb of a pregnant woman,
So you don’t know the work of God
who does everything.
⁶In the morning sow your seed
and at evening do not let your hand rest,
Because you don’t know
which one will succeed,
This one or the other,
or if both of them will be equally good.

God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

¹⁶Woe to you, land, whose king is a youth
and whose princes eat in the morning.

¹⁷ Blessed is the land whose king is one born of noble people
and whose princes eat at the proper time,
– for strength and not drinking.

¹⁸Through laziness the roof sinks,
through drooping hands the house drips.

¹⁹ ‘Bread’ is made for laughter,
wine rejoices life;
silver answers everything.

²⁰Even in your thinking don’t slight the king,
and in your bedroom don’t slight a wealthy person,
Because a bird of the heavens may make the sound travel,
an owner of wings may tell of the thing.

Eternal Light, shine into our hearts,
Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil,
Eternal Power, be our support,
Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance,
Eternal Pity, have mercy upon us;
that with all our heart and mind
and soul and strength we may seek thy face
and be brought by thine infinite mercy
to thy holy presence;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Alcuin (735-804)

¹²Words from a wise person’s mouth (are) grace,
but the lips of a fool swallow them.
¹³The beginning of the words from their mouth is folly
and the end of their mouth is wicked madness,
¹⁴andthe fool multiplies words,
though a person doesn’t know what will happen,
and what will happen after them,
who can tell them?
¹⁵The labour of fools wearies them,
because they don’t (even) know how to go to a city.

Lord, you have given me so much,
I ask for one more thing –
a grateful heart.

George Herbert

⁴If the spirit of the ruler arises against you, don’t leave your place,
because calmness can let go of great wrongdoings.
⁵There’s something bad I have seen under the sun,
that a mistake comes from a ruler.
⁶Folly has been put in many high positions,
and rich people sit in a lowly place.
⁷I have seen slaves on horses,
and princes walking on the land like slaves.

⁸The person who digs a pit may fall into it;
the person who breaks down a wall – a snake may bite them!
⁹The person who quarries stones may be hurt by them;
the person who splits logs is endangered by them.

¹⁰If the iron has become dull,
and (the worker) hasn’t sharpened it before,
they must exert more strength,
so wisdom is a value for giving success.
¹¹If the snake bites when there’s no spell,
there’s no profit in a tongue-master (magician) .

Be thou a bright flame before me,
Be thou a guiding star above me
Be thou a smooth path below me
Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me
Today – tonight -forever
Amen.

St Columba

¹⁷The words of wise people with calmness
are heard more than the crying out of a ruler among fools.
¹⁸Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner destroys much good.
1 As dead flies turn the perfumer’s oil rancid and putrid
so a little foolishness outweighs wisdom and glory.

2 A wise person’s heart is to their right hand
The heart of a foolish person is to their left hand.

3 And even on the road, as the foolish person walks
they are lacking in their heart
and they tell everyone about their foolishness.

O Love, O God who created me, in your love recreate me.
O Love, who redeemed me,
fill up in me whatever part of your love
has fallen into neglect within me.
O Love, O God, who first loved me,
grant that with my whole heart,
and with my whole soul,
and with my whole strength,
I may love you.

Gertrude the Great

¹³ This too I have seen about wisdom – under the sun –
and it was a big thing for me:
¹⁴There was a small town
and the people in it were few.
A big king came to it,
surrounded it,
and built big strongholds against it.
¹⁵There was found in it a poor man who was wise,
and he (might have) saved the town by his wisdom,
but no one remembered that poor man.

¹⁶I said to myself
wisdom is better than strength,
but the poor man’s wisdom is despised
and his words are not listened to.

Teach us, good Lord,
to serve thee as thou deservest;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

St Ignatius