The Futility of Life

¹There is another evil I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily upon mankind:

²God gives a man riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires; but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a grievous affliction.

³A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.

⁴For a stillborn child enters in futility and departs in darkness, and his name is shrouded in obscurity.

⁵The child, though neither seeing the sun nor knowing anything, has more rest than that man,

⁶even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

⁷All a man’s labor is for his mouth,yet his appetite is never satisfied.

⁸What advantage, then, has the wise man over the fool? What gain comes to the poor man who knows how to conduct himself before others?

⁹Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁰Whatever exists was named long ago, and it is known what man is; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he.

¹¹For the more words, the more futility—and how does that profit anyone?

¹²For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?

Judgment on Israel and Judah

¹“Hear this, O priests!Take heed, O house of Israel!Give ear, O royal house!For this judgment is against youbecause you have been a snare at Mizpah,a net spread out on Tabor.

²The rebels are deep in slaughter;but I will chastise them all.

³I know all about Ephraim,and Israel is not hidden from Me.For now, O Ephraim,you have turned to prostitution;Israel is defiled.

⁴Their deeds do not permit themto return to their God,for a spirit of prostitution is within them,and they do not know the LORD.

⁵Israel’s arrogance testifies against them;Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;even Judah stumbles with them.

⁶They go with their flocks and herdsto seek the LORD,but they do not find Him;He has withdrawn Himself from them.

⁷They have been unfaithful to the LORD;for they have borne illegitimate children.Now the New Moonwill devour themalong with their land.

⁸Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah,the trumpet in Ramah;raise the battle cry in Beth-aven:Lead on, O Benjamin!

⁹Ephraim will be laid wasteon the day of rebuke.Among the tribes of IsraelI proclaim what is certain.

¹⁰The princes of Judahare like those who move boundary stones;I will pour out My furyupon them like water.

¹¹Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,for he is determined to follow worthless idols.

¹²So I am like a moth to Ephraim,and like decay to the house of Judah.

¹³When Ephraim saw his sicknessand Judah his wound,then Ephraim turned to Assyriaand sent to the great king.But he cannot cure youor heal your wound.

¹⁴For I am like a lion to Ephraimand like a young lion to the house of Judah.I, even I, will tear them to piecesand then go away.I will carry them offwhere no one can rescue them.

¹⁵Then I will return to My placeuntil they admit their guilt and seek My face;in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

Nehemiah Defends the Oppressed

¹About that time there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews.

²Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous. We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive.”

³Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our homes to get grain during the famine.”

⁴Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards.

⁵We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to redeem them because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

⁶When I heard their outcry and these complaints, I became extremely angry,

⁷and after serious thought I rebuked the nobles and officials, saying, “You are exacting usury from your own brothers!”So I called a large assembly against them

⁸and said, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish brothers who were sold to foreigners, but now you are selling your own brothers, that they may be sold back to us!”But they remained silent, for they could find nothing to say.

⁹So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our foreign enemies?

¹⁰I, as well as my brothers and my servants, have been lending the people money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury.

¹¹Please restore to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and houses, along with the percentage of the money, grain, new wine, and oil that you have been assessing them.”

¹²“We will restore it,” they replied, “and will require nothing more from them. We will do as you say.”So I summoned the priests and required of the nobles and officials an oath that they would do what they had promised.

¹³I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “May God likewise shake out of his house and possessions every man who does not keep this promise. May such a man be shaken out and have nothing!”The whole assembly said, “Amen,” and they praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.

Nehemiah’s Generosity

¹⁴Furthermore, from the day King Artaxerxes appointed me to be their governor in the land of Judah, from his twentieth year until his thirty-second year (twelve years total), neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor.

¹⁵The governors before me had heavily burdened the people, taking from them bread and wine plus forty shekels of silver.Their servants also oppressed the people. But I did not do this, because of my fear of God.

¹⁶Instead, I devoted myself to the construction of the wall, and all my servants were gathered there for the work; we did not acquire any land.

¹⁷There were 150 Jews and officials at my table, besides the guests from the surrounding nations.

¹⁸Each day one ox, six choice sheep, and some fowl were prepared for me, and once every ten days an abundance of all kinds of wine was provided. But I did not demand the food allotted to the governor, because the burden on the people was so heavy.

¹⁹Remember me favorably, O my God, for all that I have done for this people.

The Song of the Slandered

¹O God of my praise,be not silent.

²For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me;they speak against me with lying tongues.

³They surround me with hateful wordsand attack me without cause.

⁴In return for my love they accuse me,but I am a man of prayer.

⁵They repay me evil for good,and hatred for my love.

⁶Set over him a wicked man;let an accuser stand at his right hand.

⁷When he is tried, let him be found guilty,and may his prayer be regarded as sin.

⁸May his days be few;may another take his position.

⁹May his children be fatherlessand his wife a widow.

¹⁰May his children wander as beggars,seeking sustenancefar from their ruined homes.

¹¹May the creditor seize all he owns,and strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.

¹²May there be no one to extend kindness to him,and no one to favor his fatherless children.

¹³May his descendants be cut off;may their name be blotted out from the next generation.

¹⁴May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,and the sin of his mother never be blotted out.

¹⁵May their sins always remain before the LORD,that He may cut off their memory from the earth.

¹⁶For he never thought to show kindness,but pursued the poor and needy and brokenhearted,even to their death.

¹⁷The cursing that he loved,may it fall on him;the blessing in which he refused to delight,may it be far from him.

¹⁸The cursing that he wore like a coat,may it soak into his body like water,and into his bones like oil.

¹⁹May it be like a robe wrapped about him,like a belt tied forever around him.

²⁰May this be the LORD’s reward to my accusers,to those who speak evil against me.

²¹But You, O GOD, the Lord,deal kindly with me for the sake of Your name;deliver me by the goodness of Your loving devotion.

²²For I am poor and needy;my heart is wounded within me.

²³I am fading away like a lengthening shadow;I am shaken off like a locust.

²⁴My knees are weak from fasting,and my body grows lean and gaunt.

²⁵I am an object of scorn to my accusers;when they see me, they shake their heads.

²⁶Help me, O LORD my God;save me according to Your loving devotion.

²⁷Let them know that this is Your hand,that You, O LORD, have done it.

²⁸Though they curse, You will bless.When they rise up, they will be put to shame,but Your servant will rejoice.

²⁹May my accusers be clothed with disgrace;may they wear their shame like a robe.

³⁰With my mouth I will thank the LORD profusely;I will praise Him in the presence of many.

³¹For He stands at the right hand of the needy one,to save him from the condemners of his soul.