4I saw all toil and all skill in work -it’s the jealousy of a person towards his neighbour. This too is mere breath, a chasing after wind.
5The fool folds his hands, and (so) eats his own flesh.
6Better a palm-full of calm than two hand-fulls of labour, and a chasing of wind.
Grant, Lord, that we may hold to you without parting, worship you without wearying, serve you without failing; faithfully seek you, happily find you, and forever possess you, the only God,blessed now and for ever. Amen
4 And I turned and saw all the deeds of oppression that are done under the sun. Look, the tears of the oppressed, and there is no comforter for them; yes, (in) the hand of their oppressors is the power, and there is no comforter for them. 2I myself congratulated the dead people, who had already died, more than the living people, who were still alive. 3Better than both of them is the one who hasn’t yet come into being, who hasn’t seen the evil activity that occurs under the sun.
Eternal God and Fatther, you create us by your power, and redeem us by your love, guide and strengthen us by your Spirit, that we may give ourselves in love and service to one another and to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
16Further, I saw under the sun: the place for judgement, there – wickedness. the place for righteousness, there – wickedness
17I said in my heart, ‘the righteous person and the wicked person God will judge. Because there is a season for every matter and for every labour there.
18I said in my heart, with regard to matters of humans, God will make it clear and show them that they are like animals.
19Because the fate of humans and the fate of animals is a single fate. As the death of this one so the death of this one One ‘breath’ for all. The advantage of humanity over animals – there is none, because each is mere breath. 20And all go to one place. All are from dust and all go back to dust.
21Who knows if the spirit of humans goes upward and the spirit of animals goes down beneath the earth?
22So I saw that there is nothing better than that a person enjoy their labours, because this is their share, because who can give them discernment to see what will happen after them?
O Lord, in whom is our hope, remove far from us, we pray thee, empty hopes and presumptuous confidence. Make our hearts so right with thy most holy and loving heart, that hoping in thee we may do good; until that day when faith and hope shall be abolished by sight and possession, and love shall be all in all.
14I knew that everything that God does, it will be forever. To it there is nothing to add, and from it, there’s nothing to take away.
God has acted so they live in awe before him.
15What has happened, already is, and that which is to happen, has already happened. And God seeks out what has been driven away
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.
12I knew that there is nothing good in them – except to rejoice and do what’s good in their lifetime. 13Also, that all people who eat and drink and see what’s good in all their work – it’s God’s gift.
Lord God, you feed us with the living bread from heaven; you renew our faith, increase our hope, and strengthen our love.
Teach us to hunger for Christ who is the true and living bread, and to live by every word that comes from your mouth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
9What’s the advantage for the worker, in what they toil over? 10I’ve seen the busyness that God has given (human beings) to be busy with. 11He’s made everything fitting in its season; he’s also put eternity into their hearts, but so that humanity cannot find out what God has done from the beginning until the end.
Eternal God and Fatther, you create us by your power, and redeem us by your love, guide and strengthen us by your Spirit, that we may give ourselves in love and service to one another and to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
To all – a season, a proper-time – for all things under the heavens: 2A time of birthing, a time of dying, a time of planting, a time of uprooting what is planted, 3A time of killing, a time of healing, a time of breaking down, a time of building up, 4A time of crying, a time of having fun, a time of wailing, a time of dancing, 5A time of throwing stones, a time of collecting stones, a time of embracing, a time of staying far from embracing, 6A time of searching, a time of abandoning, a time of keeping, a time of throwing out 7A time of tearing, a time of mending, a time of being silent, a time of speaking, 8A time of being loyal, a time of being hostile, a time of battle and a time of peace.
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.
24There is nothing better for a person than that they eat and drink and ‘show their soul’ good in their hard work. I have also seen that this is from God’s hand. 25Because who eats and who has enjoyment apart from Him?
26Because to the person who is good before Him He gives (godly)-wisdom, knowledge, and rejoicing, and to the sinner He gives the busyness of gathering and collecting —to give to someone who is good before God. This too is mere-breath, a chasing of wind.
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.
18So I hated all the hard work that I have done under the sun, which I shall bequeath to the person who will be after me. 19Who knows whether they’ll be a worldy-wise person or a fool? But they’ll be master over all the work that I have done and the wisdom that I’ve exercised under the sun. This too is mere-breath.
20So I myself turned round to letting my heart despair about all the hard work that I have done under the sun. 21Because a person may work hard with worldly-wisdom, with knowledge, and with skill, and they give their share from it to a person who didn’t work hard for it. This is also mere-breath, and bad.
22Because what does the person have for all their hard work and striving of heart, with which they worked under the sun? 23Because all their days, their hard work is pain and vexation. By night, too, their ‘heart’ doesn’t lie down. This also is mere-breath.
Lord, you have given me so much, I ask for one more thing – a grateful heart.
12I turned to see worldly-wisdom, and madness-and-idiocy. Because what will the person do who comes after the king? That which people have already done. 13I myself saw that
There is profit for worldly-wisdom over idiocy, like the profit of light over darkness. 14The worldly-wise person – their eyes are in their head, but the fool walks in darkness.
But I myself also acknowledged that one experience happens to both of them. 15So I said in my heart: like the experience of the fool, so it will happen to me, too. So why have I then been exceedingly worldly-wise? I spoke in my heart: ‘this is mere breath too’.
16Because there’s no remembrance of the worldly-wise person, or fools in the days to come because already they have been forgotten. But how can the worldly-wise person die just like the fool? 17So I hated life, because the action that occurs under the sun is bad to me, because everything is mere-breath, a chasing of wind.
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.