ECCLESIASTES
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
9:14. A little city, and few men in it: there came against it a great king, and invested it, and built bulwarks round about it, and the siege was perfect.
9:15. Now there was found in it a man poor and wise, and he delivered the city by his wisdom, and no man afterward remembered that poor man.
9:16. And I said that wisdom is better than strength: how then is the wisdom of the poor man slighted, and his words not heard?
9:17. The words of the wise are heard in silence, more than the cry of a prince among fools.
9:18. Better is wisdom, than weapons of war: and he that shall offend in one, shall lose many good things.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 10
Observations on wisdom and folly, ambition and detraction.
10:1. Dying flies spoil the sweetness of the ointment. Wisdom and glory is more precious than a small and shortlived folly.
10:2. The heart of a wise man is in his right hand, and the heart of a fool is in his left hand.
10:3. Yea, and the fool when he walketh in the way, whereas he himself is a fool, esteemeth all men fools.
10:4. If the spirit of him that hath power, ascend upon thee, leave not thy place: because care will make the greatest sins to cease.
10:5. There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were by an error proceeding from the face of the prince:
10:6. A fool set in high dignity, and the rich sitting beneath.
10:7. I have seen servants upon horses: and princes walking on the ground as servants.
10:8. He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it: and he that breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
10:9. He that removeth stones, shall be hurt by them: and he that cutteth trees, shall be wounded by them.
10:10. If the iron be blunt, and be not as before, but be made blunt, with much labour it shall be sharpened: and after industry shall follow wisdom.
10:11. If a serpent bite in silence, he is nothing better that backbiteth secretly.
10:12. The words of the mouth of a wise man are grace: but the lips of a fool shall throw him down headlong.
10:13. The beginning of his words is folly, and the end of his talk is a mischievous error.
10:14. A fool multiplieth words. A man cannot tell what hath been before him: and what shall be after him, who can tell him?
10:15. The labour of fools shall afflict them that know not how to go to the city.
10:16. Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and when the princes eat in the morning.
10:17. Blessed is the land, whose king is noble, and whose princes eat in due season for refreshment, and not for riotousness.
10:18. By slothfulness a building shall be brought down, and through the weakness of hands, the house shall drop through.
10:19. For laughter they make bread, and wine that the living may feast: and all things obey money.
10:20. Detract not the king, no not in thy thought; and speak not evil of the rich man in thy private chamber: because even the birds of the air will carry thy voice, and he that hath wings will tell what thou hast said.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 11
Exhortation to works of mercy, while we have time, to diligence in good, and to the remembrance of death and judgment.
11:1. Cast thy bread upon the running waters: for after a long time thou shalt find it again.
11:2. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight: for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.
11:3. If the clouds be full, they will pour out rain upon the earth. If the tree fall to the south, or to the north, in what place soever it shall fall, there shall it be.
If the tree fall, etc... The state of the soul is unchangeable when once she comes to heaven or hell: and a soul that departs this life in the state of grace, shall never fall from grace: as on the other side, a soul that dies out of the state of grace, shall never come to it. But this does not exclude a place of temporal punishments for such souls as die in the state of grace: yet not so as to be entirely pure: and therefore they shall be saved, indeed, yet so as by fire. 1 Cor. 3.13, 14, 15.
11:4. He that observeth the wind, shall not sow: and he that considereth the clouds, shall never reap.
11:5. As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones are joined together in the womb of her that is with child: so thou knowest not the works of God, who is the maker of all.
11:6. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening let not thy hand cease: for thou knowest not which may rather spring up, this or that: and if both together, it shall be the better.
11:7. The light is sweet, and it is delightful for the eyes to see the sun.
11:8. If a man live many years, and have rejoiced in them all, he must remember the darksome time, and the many days: which when they shall come, the things past shall be accused of vanity.
11:9. Rejoice therefore, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart be in that which is good in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thy eyes: and know that for all these God will bring thee into judgment.
11:10. Remove anger from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh. For youth and pleasure are vain.