Lifestyle of Worship - Part 2

Competing for Christ

Wait Well: Trusting God's Timing

Praying God's Word: 7-Day Guide for the Buddhist World

Faith That Endures

Who Owns Your Time?

Journey Through 1 Thessalonians

Overcoming Marital Anxiety

When to Forgive and Stand Firm

DRAWING FROM the RIGHT WELL

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkECC">
      <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="ECC.2">
         <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Pleasures Are Meaningless</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.2.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">I said to myself, &#8220;Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.&#8221; But that also proved to be meaningless. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.2.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">&#8220;Laughter,&#8221; I said, &#8220;is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.2.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly&#8212;my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.2.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.2.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.2.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.2.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.2.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.2.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">2:8 </span><span class="ft">The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.</span></span></span><span class="content"> as well&#8212;the delights of a man&#8217;s heart. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.2.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.2.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.2.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.2.10"><span class="content">I refused my heart no pleasure.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.2.10"><span class="content">My heart took delight in all my labor,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.2.10"><span class="content">and this was the reward for all my toil.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.2.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.2.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.2.11"><span class="content">and what I had toiled to achieve,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.2.11"><span class="content">everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.2.11"><span class="content">nothing was gained under the sun.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.2.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.2.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.2.12"><span class="content">and also madness and folly.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.2.12"><span class="content">What more can the king&#8217;s successor do</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.2.12"><span class="content">than what has already been done?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.2.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.2.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">I saw that wisdom is better than folly,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.2.13"><span class="content">just as light is better than darkness.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.2.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.2.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">The wise have eyes in their heads,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.2.14"><span class="content">while the fool walks in the darkness;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.2.14"><span class="content">but I came to realize</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.2.14"><span class="content">that the same fate overtakes them both.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.2.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.2.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">Then I said to myself,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.2.15"><span class="content">&#8220;The fate of the fool will overtake me also.</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.2.15"><span class="content">What then do I gain by being wise?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.2.15"><span class="content">I said to myself,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.2.15"><span class="content">&#8220;This too is meaningless.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.2.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.2.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.2.16"><span class="content">the days have already come when both have been forgotten.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.2.16"><span class="content">Like the fool, the wise too must die!</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Toil Is Meaningless</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.2.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.2.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ECC.2.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ECC.2.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ECC.2.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="ECC.2.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="ECC.2.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="ECC.2.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="ECC.2.23"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="ECC.2.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="ECC.2.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ECC.2.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.</span></span></div>
      </div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkECC">
      <div class="chapter ch3" data-usfm="ECC.3">
         <div class="label">3</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">A Time for Everything</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.3.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">There is a time for everything,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.3.1"><span class="content">and a season for every activity under the heavens:</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.3.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.3.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">a time to be born and a time to die,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.3.2"><span class="content">a time to plant and a time to uproot,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.3.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.3.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">a time to kill and a time to heal,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.3.3"><span class="content">a time to tear down and a time to build,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.3.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.3.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">a time to weep and a time to laugh,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.3.4"><span class="content">a time to mourn and a time to dance,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.3.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.3.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.3.5"><span class="content">a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.3.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.3.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">a time to search and a time to give up,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.3.6"><span class="content">a time to keep and a time to throw away,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.3.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.3.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">a time to tear and a time to mend,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.3.7"><span class="content">a time to be silent and a time to speak,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.3.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.3.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">a time to love and a time to hate,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.3.8"><span class="content">a time for war and a time for peace.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.3.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.3.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">What do workers gain from their toil? </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.3.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.3.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">3:11 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">also placed ignorance in the human heart, so that</span></span></span><span class="content"> no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.3.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.3.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil&#8212;this is the gift of God. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.3.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.3.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.3.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">Whatever is has already been,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.3.15"><span class="content">and what will be has been before;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.3.15"><span class="content">and God will call the past to account.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">3:15 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">God calls back the past</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.3.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.3.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">And I saw something else under the sun:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.3.16"><span class="content">In the place of judgment&#8212;wickedness was there,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.3.16"><span class="content">in the place of justice&#8212;wickedness was there.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.3.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.3.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">I said to myself,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.3.17"><span class="content">&#8220;God will bring into judgment</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.3.17"><span class="content">both the righteous and the wicked,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.3.17"><span class="content">for there will be a time for every activity,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.3.17"><span class="content">a time to judge every deed.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.3.17"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ECC.3.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">I also said to myself, &#8220;As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ECC.3.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">3:19 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">spirit</span></span></span><span class="content">; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ECC.3.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="ECC.3.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="ECC.3.21"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="ECC.3.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?</span></span></div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkECC">
      <div class="chapter ch4" data-usfm="ECC.4">
         <div class="label">4</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Oppression, Toil, Friendlessness</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.4.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.4.1"><span class="content">I saw the tears of the oppressed&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.4.1"><span class="content">and they have no comforter;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.4.1"><span class="content">power was on the side of their oppressors&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.4.1"><span class="content">and they have no comforter.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.4.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.4.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">And I declared that the dead,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.4.2"><span class="content">who had already died,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.4.2"><span class="content">are happier than the living,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.4.2"><span class="content">who are still alive.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.4.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.4.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">But better than both</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.4.3"><span class="content">is the one who has never been born,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.4.3"><span class="content">who has not seen the evil</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.4.3"><span class="content">that is done under the sun.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.4.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.4.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person&#8217;s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.4.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.4.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Fools fold their hands</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.4.5"><span class="content">and ruin themselves.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.4.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.4.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Better one handful with tranquillity</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.4.6"><span class="content">than two handfuls with toil</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.4.6"><span class="content">and chasing after the wind.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.4.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.4.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.4.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.4.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">There was a man all alone;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.4.8"><span class="content">he had neither son nor brother.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.4.8"><span class="content">There was no end to his toil,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.4.8"><span class="content">yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.4.8"><span class="content">&#8220;For whom am I toiling,&#8221; he asked,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.4.8"><span class="content">&#8220;and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.4.8"><span class="content">This too is meaningless&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.4.8"><span class="content">a miserable business!</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.4.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.4.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Two are better than one,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.4.9"><span class="content">because they have a good return for their labor:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.4.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.4.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">If either of them falls down,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.4.10"><span class="content">one can help the other up.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.4.10"><span class="content">But pity anyone who falls</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.4.10"><span class="content">and has no one to help them up.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.4.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.4.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.4.11"><span class="content">But how can one keep warm alone?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.4.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.4.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Though one may be overpowered,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.4.12"><span class="content">two can defend themselves.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.4.12"><span class="content">A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Advancement Is Meaningless</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.4.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.4.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.4.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom. </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.4.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king&#8217;s successor. </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.4.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">There was no end to all the people who were before them. But those who came later were not pleased with the successor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bk1JN">
      <div class="chapter ch5" data-usfm="1JN.5">
         <div class="label">5</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Faith in the Incarnate Son of God</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="1JN.5.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="1JN.5.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="1JN.5.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="1JN.5.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="1JN.5.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="1JN.5.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="1JN.5.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">This is the one who came by water and blood&#8212;Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="1JN.5.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">For there are three that testify: </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="1JN.5.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">the</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">5:7,8 </span><span class="ft">Late manuscripts of the Vulgate </span><span class="fqa">testify in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. </span><span class="fv">8 </span><span class="fqa">And there are three that testify on earth: the </span><span class="ft">(not found in any Greek manuscript before the fourteenth century)</span></span></span><span class="content"> Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="1JN.5.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">We accept human testimony, but God&#8217;s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="1JN.5.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="1JN.5.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="1JN.5.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Concluding Affirmations</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="1JN.5.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="1JN.5.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="1JN.5.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="1JN.5.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">And if we know that he hears us&#8212;whatever we ask&#8212;we know that we have what we asked of him.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="1JN.5.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="1JN.5.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="1JN.5.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="1JN.5.17"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="1JN.5.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="1JN.5.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="1JN.5.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="1JN.5.20"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="1JN.5.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkLUK">
      <div class="chapter ch17" data-usfm="LUK.17">
         <div class="label">17</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Sin, Faith, Duty</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="LUK.17.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Jesus said to his disciples: </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="LUK.17.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="LUK.17.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">So watch yourselves.</span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="LUK.17.3"><span class="content">  </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;If your brother or sister</span></span><span class="content">  </span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">  </span><span class="fr">17:3 </span><span class="ft">  </span><span class="ft">The Greek word for </span><span class="ft">  </span><span class="fq">brother or sister </span><span class="ft">  </span><span class="ft">(<span class="tl">adelphos</span>) refers here to a fellow disciple, whether man or woman.</span><span class="ft">  </span></span></span><span class="content">  </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="LUK.17.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying &#8216;I repent,&#8217; you must forgive them.&#8221;</span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="LUK.17.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="LUK.17.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">The apostles said to the Lord, &#8220;Increase our faith!&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="LUK.17.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="LUK.17.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">He replied, </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, &#8216;Be uprooted and planted in the sea,&#8217; and it will obey you.</span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="LUK.17.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="LUK.17.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">  </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, &#8216;Come along now and sit down to eat&#8217;?</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="LUK.17.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">Won&#8217;t he rather say, &#8216;Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink&#8217;?</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="LUK.17.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="LUK.17.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, &#8216;We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</span></span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Jesus Heals Ten Men With Leprosy</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="LUK.17.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="LUK.17.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="LUK.17.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">17:12 </span><span class="ft">The Greek word traditionally translated </span><span class="fq">leprosy </span><span class="ft">was used for various diseases affecting the skin.</span></span></span><span class="content"> met him. They stood at a distance </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="LUK.17.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">and called out in a loud voice, &#8220;Jesus, Master, have pity on us!&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="LUK.17.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="LUK.17.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">When he saw them, he said, </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;Go, show yourselves to the priests.&#8221;</span></span><span class="content"> And as they went, they were cleansed.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="LUK.17.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="LUK.17.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="LUK.17.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">He threw himself at Jesus&#8217; feet and thanked him&#8212;and he was a Samaritan.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="LUK.17.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="LUK.17.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">Jesus asked, </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="LUK.17.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?&#8221;</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="LUK.17.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">Then he said to him, </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;Rise and go; your faith has made you well.&#8221;</span></span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Coming of the Kingdom of God</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="LUK.17.19"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="LUK.17.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed,</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="LUK.17.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">nor will people say, &#8216;Here it is,&#8217; or &#8216;There it is,&#8217; because the kingdom of God is in your midst.&#8221;</span></span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">17:21 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">is within you</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="LUK.17.21"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="LUK.17.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">Then he said to his disciples, </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="LUK.17.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">People will tell you, &#8216;There he is!&#8217; or &#8216;Here he is!&#8217; Do not go running off after them.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="LUK.17.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">For the Son of Man in his day</span></span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">17:24 </span><span class="ft">Some manuscripts do not have </span><span class="fqa">in his day.</span></span></span><span class="content">  </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="LUK.17.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.</span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="LUK.17.25"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="LUK.17.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">  </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="LUK.17.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.</span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="LUK.17.27"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="LUK.17.28"><span class="label">28</span><span class="content">  </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="LUK.17.29"><span class="label">29</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.</span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="LUK.17.29"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="LUK.17.30"><span class="label">30</span><span class="content">  </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="LUK.17.31"><span class="label">31</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="LUK.17.32"><span class="label">32</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">Remember Lot&#8217;s wife!</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v33" data-usfm="LUK.17.33"><span class="label">33</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v34" data-usfm="LUK.17.34"><span class="label">34</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v35" data-usfm="LUK.17.35"><span class="label">35</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.&#8221;</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v36" data-usfm="LUK.17.36"><span class="label">[36]</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">17:36 </span><span class="ft">Some manuscripts include here words similar to <span class="ref" data-usfm="MAT.24.40">Matt. 24:40</span>.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v36" data-usfm="LUK.17.36"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v37" data-usfm="LUK.17.37"><span class="label">37</span><span class="content">&#8220;Where, Lord?&#8221; they asked.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v37" data-usfm="LUK.17.37"><span class="content">He replied, </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.&#8221;</span></span></span></div>
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