Bible Readings for September 4, 2013

Today our passages are Ecclesiastes 7:1–9:18; 2 Corinthians 7:8-16; Psalm 48:1-14; and Proverbs 22:17-19. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.

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Ecclesiastes 7-9:18 (Contemporary English Version)

Ecclesiastes 7

The Best in Life

 ¹A good reputation    at the time of death
   is better than loving care
   at the time of birth. ^{[a] 2}It's better to go to a funeral
   than to attend a feast;
   funerals remind us
   that we all must die.
    ³Choose sorrow over laughter
   because a sad face
   may hide a happy heart.
    ⁴A sensible person mourns,
   but fools always laugh.
    ⁵Harsh correction is better
   than the songs of a fool.
    ⁶Foolish laughter is stupid.
   It sounds like thorns
   crackling in a fire.
    ⁷Corruption ^[b] makes fools of sensible people,
   and bribes can ruin you.
    ⁸Something completed is better
   than something just begun;
   patience is better
   than too much pride.
    ⁹Only fools get angry quickly
   and hold a grudge.
    ¹⁰It isn't wise to ask,
   "Why is everything worse
   than it used to be?"
    ¹¹Having wisdom is better
   than an inheritance.
    ¹²Wisdom will protect you
   just like money;
   knowledge with good sense
   will lead you to life.
    ¹³Think of what God has done!
   If God makes something crooked,
   can you make it straight?
    ¹⁴When 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.
   

Some of Life's Questions

 ¹⁵I 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. ¹⁶So don't destroy yourself by being too good or acting too smart! ¹⁷Don't die before your time by being too evil or acting like a fool. ¹⁸Keep to the middle of the road. You can do this if you truly respect God.     ¹⁹Wisdom will make you stronger than the ten most powerful leaders in your city.
    ²⁰No one in this world always does right.
    ²¹Don't listen to everything that everyone says, or you might hear your servant cursing you. ²²Haven't you cursed many others?
    ²³I told myself that I would be smart and try to understand all of this, but it was too much for me. ²⁴The truth is beyond us. It's far too deep. ²⁵So 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.
    ²⁶Here 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. ²⁷With all my wisdom I have tried to find out how everything fits together, ²⁸but 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. ²⁹I did learn one thing: We were completely honest when God created us, but now we have twisted minds.
   

Ecclesiastes 8

 ¹Who is smart enough    to explain everything?
   Wisdom makes you cheerful
   and gives you a smile.
   

Obey the King

 ²If you promised God that you would be loyal to the king, I advise you to keep that promise. ³Don't quickly oppose the king or argue when he has already made up his mind. ⁴The king's word is law. No one can ask him, "Why are you doing this?" ⁵If you obey the king, you will stay out of trouble. So be smart and learn what to do and when to do it. ⁶Life is hard, but there is a time and a place for everything, ⁷though no one can tell the future. ⁸We cannot control the wind ^[c] or determine the day of our death. There is no escape in time of war, and no one can hide behind evil. ⁹I noticed all this and thought seriously about what goes on in the world. Why does one person have the power to hurt another?

Who Can Understand the Ways of God?

 ¹⁰I saw the wicked buried with honor, but God's people had to leave the holy city and were forgotten. ^[d] None of this makes sense. ¹¹When we see criminals commit crime after crime without being punished, it makes us want to start a life of crime. ¹²They 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,
    ¹³but no one who sins
   and rejects God
   will prosper or live very long.
    ¹⁴There 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. ¹⁵So 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.
    ¹⁶Day and night I went without sleep, trying to understand what goes on in this world. ¹⁷I saw everything God does, and I realized 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 9

One Day at a Time

 ¹I 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. ^{[e] 2}But exactly ^[f] 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. ³It'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. ⁴As long as we are alive, we still have hope, just as a live dog is better off than a dead lion. ⁵We know that we will die, but the dead don't know a thing. Nothing good will happen to them--they are gone and forgotten. ⁶Their 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.     ⁷Be happy and enjoy eating and drinking! God decided long ago that this is what you should do. ⁸Dress up, comb your hair, and look your best. ⁹Life 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. ¹⁰Work 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.
    ¹¹Here 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.
    ¹²None 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.
   

Better To Be Wise than Foolish

 ¹³Once I saw what people really think of wisdom. ¹⁴It 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. ¹⁵But the city was saved by the wisdom of a poor person who was soon forgotten. ¹⁶So 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.     ¹⁷Words of wisdom spoken softly
   make much more sense
   than the shouts of a ruler
   to a crowd of fools.
    ¹⁸Wisdom is more powerful
   than weapons,
   yet one mistake can destroy
   all the good you have done.
   

Footnotes:

1. Ecclesiastes 7:1 birth: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 1.
2. Ecclesiastes 7:7 Corruption: Or "Oppression."
3. Ecclesiastes 8:8 control the wind: Or "escape from death."
4. Ecclesiastes 8:10 but. . . forgotten: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
5. Ecclesiastes 9:1 or bad: Three ancient translations; the Hebrew text does not have these words.
6. Ecclesiastes 9:2 exactly: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

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2 Corinthians 7:8-16 (Contemporary English Version)

⁸I don't feel bad anymore, even though my letter ^[a] hurt your feelings. I did feel bad at first, but I don't now. I know that the letter hurt you for a while. ⁹Now I am happy, but not because I hurt your feelings. It is because God used your hurt feelings to make you turn back to him, and none of you were harmed by us. ¹⁰When God makes you feel sorry enough to turn to him and be saved, you don't have anything to feel bad about. But when this world makes you feel sorry, it can cause your death. ¹¹Just look what God has done by making you feel sorry! You sincerely want to prove that you are innocent. You are angry. You are shocked. You are eager to see that justice is done. You have proved that you were completely right in this matter. ¹²When I wrote you, it wasn't to accuse the one who was wrong or to take up for the one who was hurt. I wrote, so that God would show you how much you do care for us. ¹³And we were greatly encouraged.
   Although we were encouraged, we felt even better when we saw how happy Titus was, because you had shown that he had nothing to worry about. ¹⁴We had told him how much we thought of you, and you did not disappoint us. Just as we have always told you the truth, so everything we told him about you has also proved to be true. ¹⁵Titus loves all of you very much, especially when he remembers how you obeyed him and how you trembled with fear when you welcomed him. ¹⁶It makes me really glad to know that I can depend on you.
   

Footnotes:

1. 2 Corinthians 7:8 my letter: There is no copy of this letter that Paul wrote to the church at Corinth.

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Psalm 48:1-14 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 48

(A song and a psalm for the people of Korah.)

The City of God

 ¹The LORD God is wonderful!    He deserves all praise
   in the city where he lives.
   His holy mountain,
    ²beautiful and majestic,
   brings joy to all on earth.
   Mount Zion, truly sacred,
   is home for the Great King.
    ³God is there to defend it
   and has proved to be
   its protector.
    ⁴Kings joined forces
   to attack the city,
    ⁵but when they saw it,
   they were terrified
   and ran away.
    ⁶They trembled all over
   like women giving birth
    ⁷or like seagoing ships ^[a] wrecked by eastern winds.
    ⁸We had heard about it,
   and now we have seen it
   in the city of our God,
   the LORD All-Powerful.
   This is the city that God
   will let stand forever.
    ⁹Our God, here in your temple
   we think about your love.
    ¹⁰You are famous and praised
   everywhere on earth,
   as you win victories
   with your powerful arm.
    ¹¹Mount Zion will celebrate,
   and all Judah will be glad,
   because you bring justice.
    ¹²Let's walk around Zion
   and count its towers.
    ¹³We will see its strong walls
   and visit each fortress.
   Then you can say
   to future generations,
    ¹⁴"Our God is like this forever
   and will always ^[b] guide us."

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 48:7 seagoing ships: The Hebrew text has " ships of Tarshish," which probably means large, seagoing ships.
2. Psalm 48:14 always: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

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Proverbs 22:17-19 (Contemporary English Version)

Thirty Wise Sayings

 ¹⁷Here are some sayings    of people with wisdom,
   so listen carefully
   as I teach.
    ¹⁸You will be glad
   that you know these sayings
   and can recite them.
    ¹⁹I am teaching them today,
   so that you
   may trust the LORD.

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Verse of the Day

“Now follow the example of the correct teaching I gave you, and let the faith and love of Christ Jesus be your model. You have been trusted with a wonderful treasure. Guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit, who lives within you.” - 2 Timothy 1:13-14

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

Louis Sullivan,  American architect, “How strange it seems that education, in practice, so often means suppression: that instead of leading the mind outward to the light of day it crowds things in upon it that darken and weary it. Yet evidently the true object of education, now as ever, is to develop the capabilities of the head and of the heart.”