Bible Reading October 23, 24
(World English Bible)
Ecclesiastes 11, 12
Ecc 11:1 Cast your bread on the waters; for you shall find it after many days.
Ecc 11:2 Give a portion to seven, yes, even to eight; for you don't know what evil will be on the earth.
Ecc 11:3 If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth; and if a tree falls toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there shall it be.
Ecc 11:4 He who observes the wind won't sow; and he who regards the clouds won't reap.
Ecc 11:5 As you don't know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you don't know the work of God who does all.
Ecc 11:6 In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening don't withhold your hand; for you don't know which will prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both will be equally good.
Ecc 11:7 Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to see the sun.
Ecc 11:8 Yes, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity.
Ecc 11:9 Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
Ecc 11:10 Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
Ecc 12:1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw near, when you will say, "I have no pleasure in them;"
Ecc 12:2 Before the sun, the light, the moon, and the stars are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain;
Ecc 12:3 in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look out of the windows are darkened,
Ecc 12:4 and the doors shall be shut in the street; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one shall rise up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low;
Ecc 12:5 yes, they shall be afraid of heights, and terrors will be in the way; and the almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goes to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about the streets:
Ecc 12:6 before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the spring, or the wheel broken at the cistern,
Ecc 12:7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Ecc 12:8 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher. All is vanity!
Ecc 12:9 Further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered, sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
Ecc 12:10 The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written blamelessly, words of truth.
Ecc 12:11 The words of the wise are like goads; and like nails well fastened are words from the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.
Ecc 12:12 Furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Ecc 12:13 This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecc 12:14 For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.
Oct. 24
Song of Solomon 1-4
Son 1:1 The Song of songs, which is Solomon's. Beloved
Son 1:2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; for your love is better than wine.
Son 1:3 Your oils have a pleasing fragrance. Your name is oil poured forth, therefore the virgins love you.
Son 1:4 Take me away with you. Let us hurry. The king has brought me into his chambers. Friends We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will praise your love more than wine! Beloved They are right to love you.
Son 1:5 I am dark, but lovely, you daughters of Jerusalem, like Kedar's tents, like Solomon's curtains.
Son 1:6 Don't stare at me because I am dark, because the sun has scorched me. My mother's sons were angry with me. They made me keeper of the vineyards. I haven't kept my own vineyard.
Son 1:7 Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you graze your flock, where you rest them at noon; For why should I be as one who is veiled beside the flocks of your companions? Lover
Son 1:8 If you don't know, most beautiful among women, follow the tracks of the sheep. Graze your young goats beside the shepherds' tents.
Son 1:9 I have compared you, my love, to a steed in Pharaoh's chariots.
Son 1:10 Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels.
Son 1:11 We will make you earrings of gold, with studs of silver. Beloved
Son 1:12 While the king sat at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.
Son 1:13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh, that lies between my breasts.
Son 1:14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi. Lover
Son 1:15 Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves. Beloved
Son 1:16 Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, yes, pleasant; and our couch is verdant. Lover
Son 1:17 The beams of our house are cedars. Our rafters are firs. Beloved
Son 2:1 I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. Lover
Son 2:2 As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. Beloved
Son 2:3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, his fruit was sweet to my taste.
Son 2:4 He brought me to the banquet hall. His banner over me is love.
Son 2:5 Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples; For I am faint with love.
Son 2:6 His left hand is under my head. His right hand embraces me.
Son 2:7 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, or by the hinds of the field, that you not stir up, nor awaken love, until it so desires.
Son 2:8 The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping on the mountains, skipping on the hills.
Son 2:9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart. Behold, he stands behind our wall! He looks in at the windows. He glances through the lattice.
Son 2:10 My beloved spoke, and said to me, "Rise up, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.
Son 2:11 For, behold, the winter is past. The rain is over and gone.
Son 2:12 The flowers appear on the earth. The time of the singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
Son 2:13 The fig tree ripens her green figs. The vines are in blossom. They give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away." Lover
Son 2:14 My dove in the clefts of the rock, In the hiding places of the mountainside, Let me see your face. Let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
Son 2:15 Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom. Beloved
Son 2:16 My beloved is mine, and I am his. He browses among the lilies.
Son 2:17 Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be like a roe or a young hart on the mountains of Bether.
Son 3:1 By night on my bed, I sought him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but I didn't find him.
Son 3:2 I will get up now, and go about the city; in the streets and in the squares I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but I didn't find him.
Son 3:3 The watchmen who go about the city found me; "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?"
Son 3:4 I had scarcely passed from them, when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, into the chamber of her who conceived me.
Son 3:5 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, or by the hinds of the field, that you not stir up, nor awaken love, until it so desires.
Son 3:6 Who is this who comes up from the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all spices of the merchant?
Son 3:7 Behold, it is Solomon's carriage! Sixty mighty men are around it, of the mighty men of Israel.
Son 3:8 They all handle the sword, and are expert in war. Every man has his sword on his thigh, because of fear in the night.
Son 3:9 King Solomon made himself a carriage of the wood of Lebanon.
Son 3:10 He made its pillars of silver, its bottom of gold, its seat of purple, its midst being paved with love, from the daughters of Jerusalem.
Son 3:11 Go forth, you daughters of Zion, and see king Solomon, with the crown with which his mother has crowned him, in the day of his weddings, in the day of the gladness of his heart. Lover
Son 4:1 Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is as a flock of goats, that descend from Mount Gilead.
Son 4:2 Your teeth are like a newly shorn flock, which have come up from the washing, where every one of them has twins. None is bereaved among them.
Son 4:3 Your lips are like scarlet thread. Your mouth is lovely. Your temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind your veil.
Son 4:4 Your neck is like David's tower built for an armory, whereon a thousand shields hang, all the shields of the mighty men.
Son 4:5 Your two breasts are like two fawns that are twins of a roe, which feed among the lilies.
Son 4:6 Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away, I will go to the mountain of myrrh, to the hill of frankincense.
Son 4:7 You are all beautiful, my love. There is no spot in you.
Son 4:8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, with me from Lebanon. Look from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.
Son 4:9 You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride. You have ravished my heart with one of your eyes, with one chain of your neck.
Son 4:10 How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine! The fragrance of your perfumes than all manner of spices!
Son 4:11 Your lips, my bride, drip like the honeycomb. Honey and milk are under your tongue. The smell of your garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
Son 4:12 A locked up garden is my sister, my bride; a locked up spring, a sealed fountain.
Son 4:13 Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits: henna with spikenard plants,
Son 4:14 spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree; myrrh and aloes, with all the best spices,
Son 4:15 a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, flowing streams from Lebanon. Beloved
Son 4:16 Awake, north wind; and come, you south! Blow on my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and taste his precious fruits. Lover
Colossians 4
Col 4:1 Masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
Col 4:2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving;
Col 4:3 praying together for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds;
Col 4:4 that I may reveal it as I ought to speak.
Col 4:5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
Col 4:6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Col 4:7 All my affairs will be made known to you by Tychicus, the beloved brother, faithful servant, and fellow bondservant in the Lord.
Col 4:8 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts,
Col 4:9 together with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you everything that is going on here.
Col 4:10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you received commandments, "if he comes to you, receive him"),
Col 4:11 and Jesus who is called Justus, who are of the circumcision. These are my only fellow workers for the Kingdom of God, men who have been a comfort to me.
Col 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
Col 4:13 For I testify about him, that he has great zeal for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis.
Col 4:14 Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you.
Col 4:15 Greet the brothers who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the assembly that is in his house.
Col 4:16 When this letter has been read among you, cause it to be read also in the assembly of the Laodiceans; and that you also read the letter from Laodicea.
Col 4:17 Tell Archippus, "Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfill it."
Col 4:18 The salutation of me, Paul, with my own hand: remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen.
1 Thessalonians 1
1Th 1:1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1Th 1:2 We always give thanks to God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers,
1Th 1:3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.
1Th 1:4 We know, brothers loved by God, that you are chosen,
1Th 1:5 and that our Good News came to you not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with much assurance. You know what kind of men we showed ourselves to be among you for your sake.
1Th 1:6 You became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,
1Th 1:7 so that you became an example to all who believe in Macedonia and in Achaia.
1Th 1:8 For from you the word of the Lord has been declared, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone out; so that we need not to say anything.
1Th 1:9 For they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from you; and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God,
1Th 1:10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead--Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.
If a teenage boy whom you just met told you that his parents were “David and Marie,” but then a few minutes later you overheard him tell a county clerk that he was the son of “John and Joanne,” you might assume that the teen had lied either to you or to the county clerk. The fact of the matter is, however, the teen could be telling the truth. It may be that most people recognize his parents by their middle names—David and Marie, but for more official business his parents use their first names—John and Joanne. Or, perhaps the boy had been reared by his grandparents because his parents had died in a tragic car accident when he was an infant. The boy may refer to his grandparents as “mom” and “dad” since they were the only “mom” and “dad” he ever really knew (experientially). In turn, the grandparents may refer to him as their “son.” In most all unofficial documents and casual conversations the terms “mom,” “dad,” and “son” are used. For nearly all official documents and in most formal conversations, the terms “grandparents” and “grandson” are used. These are two very real possibilities as to why a teenage boy may refer to his parents by different names. Assuming and alleging the worst about the teen without knowing all of the facts would be unfair and inappropriate.
