The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday September 4, 2021 (NIV)

Wisdom

¹³ Consider what God has done:^(Q)

¹⁵ In this meaningless life^(T) of mine I have seen both of these:

²³ All this I tested by wisdom and I said,

²⁷ “Look,” says the Teacher,^[b](AI) “this is what I have discovered:

Obey the King

² Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. ³ Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence.^(AK) Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. ⁴ Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?^(AL)”

⁹ All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own^[d] hurt. ¹⁰ Then too, I saw the wicked buried^(AN)—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise^[e] in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.

¹¹ When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. ¹² Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better^(AO) with those who fear God,^(AP) who are reverent before him.^{(AQ) 13} Yet because the wicked do not fear God,^(AR) it will not go well with them, and their days^(AS) will not lengthen like a shadow.

¹⁴ There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve.^(AT) This too, I say, is meaningless.^{(AU) 15} So I commend the enjoyment of life^(AV), because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink^(AW) and be glad.^(AX) Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.

¹⁶ When I applied my mind to know wisdom^(AY) and to observe the labor that is done on earth^(AZ)—people getting no sleep day or night— ¹⁷ then I saw all that God has done.^(BA) No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.^(BB)

A Common Destiny for All

9 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.^{(BC) 2} All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,^[f] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.

³ This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all.^(BE) The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live,^(BF) and afterward they join the dead.^{(BG) 4} Anyone who is among the living has hope^[g]—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!

⁷ Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine^(BL) with a joyful heart,^(BM) for God has already approved what you do. ⁸ Always be clothed in white,^(BN) and always anoint your head with oil. ⁹ Enjoy life with your wife,^(BO) whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot^(BP) in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. ¹⁰ Whatever^(BQ) your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,^(BR) for in the realm of the dead,^(BS) where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.^(BT)

¹¹ I have seen something else under the sun:

¹² Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:

Wisdom Better Than Folly

¹³ I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom^(CA) that greatly impressed me: ¹⁴ There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. ¹⁵ Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man.^{(CB) 16} So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.^(CC)

⁸ Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter,^(A) I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— ⁹ yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. ¹⁰ Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation^(B) and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. ¹¹ See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern,^(C) what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. ¹² So even though I wrote to you,^(D) it was neither on account of the one who did the wrong^(E) nor on account of the injured party, but rather that before God you could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are. ¹³ By all this we are encouraged.

In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus^(F) was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. ¹⁴ I had boasted to him about you,^(G) and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus^(H) has proved to be true as well. ¹⁵ And his affection for you is all the greater when he remembers that you were all obedient,^(I) receiving him with fear and trembling.^{(J) 16} I am glad I can have complete confidence in you.^(K)

Psalm 48^[a]

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah.

Thirty Sayings of the Wise

Saying 1