Remember Your Creator in Your Youth

1 Remember also your Creator in ^vthe days of your youth, before ^wthe evil days come and the years draw near of which ^xyou will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2 before ^ythe sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3 in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and ^zthose who look through the windows are dimmed, 4 and ^athe doors on the street are shut—when ^bthe sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all ^cthe daughters of song are brought low— 5 they are afraid also of what is high, and ^dterrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,¹ and desire fails, because man is going to his ^eeternal ^fhome, and the ^gmourners go about the streets— 6 before the silver cord is snapped, or ^hthe golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is ⁱshattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and ^jthe dust returns to the earth as it was, and ^kthe spirit returns to God ^lwho gave it. 8 ^mVanity² of vanities, says ⁿthe Preacher; all is vanity.

Fear God and Keep His Commandments

9 Besides being wise, ⁿthe Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging ^omany proverbs with great care. 10 ⁿThe Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

11 ^pThe words of the wise are like goads, and like ^qnails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are ^rgiven by ^sone Shepherd. 12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making ^umany books there is no end, and ^vmuch study is a weariness of the flesh.

13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. ^wFear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.³ 14 For ^xGod will bring every deed into judgment, with⁴ every secret thing, whether good or evil.

The Lord Has Chosen Zion

A Song of ^mAscents.

The Collection for Christians in Jerusalem

1 Now ^lit is superfluous for me to write to you about ^mthe ministry for the saints, 2 for I know your readiness, ⁿof which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready ^osince last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. 3 But ^pI am sending¹ the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, ^qas I said you would be. 4 Otherwise, if some Macedonians ^rcome with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the ^sgift² you have promised, so that it may be ready ^tas a willing gift, ^unot as an exaction.³

The Cheerful Giver

6 The point is this: ^vwhoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully⁴ will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, ^wnot reluctantly or under compulsion, for ^xGod loves a cheerful giver. 8 And ^yGod is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency⁵ in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written,

10 He who supplies ^aseed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and ^bincrease the harvest of your righteousness. 11 ^cYou will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which ^dthrough us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying ^ethe needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 13 By their approval of this service, ^fthey⁶ will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your ^gconfession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. 15 ^hThanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

Paul Defends His Ministry

1 ⁱI, Paul, myself entreat you, by the ^jmeekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— 2 I beg of you ^kthat when I am present I may not have to show ^lboldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the ^mweapons of ⁿour warfare are not of the flesh but have ^odivine power ^pto destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and ^qevery lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to ^robey Christ, 6 ^sbeing ready to punish every disobedience, ^twhen your obedience is complete.

7 ^uLook at what is before your eyes. ^vIf anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as ^whe is Christ’s, ^xso also are we. 8 For even if I boast a little too much of ^your authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. 9 I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. 10 For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but ^zhis bodily presence is weak, and ^ahis speech of no account.” 11 Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. 12 Not that we dare to classify or ^bcompare ourselves with some of those who ^care commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are ^dwithout understanding.

13 But we will not boast ^ebeyond limits, but will ^fboast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, ^gto reach even to you. 14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. ^hFor we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. 15 We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that ⁱas your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be ^jgreatly enlarged, 16 so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another’s area of influence. 17 “Let ^kthe one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 18 For it is ^lnot the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one ^mwhom the Lord commends.