All Is Vanity
1 The words of the aPreacher,1 the bson of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 cVanity2 of vanities, says the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! dAll is vanity.
3 What does man egain by all the toil
at which he toils funder the sun?
4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down,
and hastens3 to the place where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and goes around to the north;
around and around goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.
7 All streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
8 All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the geye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 hWhat has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been already
in the ages before us.
11 There is no iremembrance of former things,4
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things5 yet to be
among those who come after.
The Vanity of Wisdom
12 I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I japplied my heart6 to seek and to ksearch out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an lunhappy mbusiness that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity7 and a nstriving after wind.8
15 oWhat is crooked cannot be made straight,
and what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, psurpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know qmadness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
18 For in rmuch wisdom is much vexation,
and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
My Help Comes from the Lord
A Song of Ascents.
1 jI lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
2 kMy lhelp comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot mbe moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your nkeeper;
the Lord is your oshade pon your right hand.
6 The qsun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will rkeep your life.
8 sThe Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
Greeting
1 aThe elder to the belect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who cknow the truth, 2 because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:
3 dGrace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.
Walking in Truth and Love
4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children ewalking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. 5 And now I ask you, dear lady—fnot as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we glove one another. 6 And hthis is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, ijust as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. 7 For jmany kdeceivers have gone out into the world, those who ldo not confess the coming of Jesus Christ min the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the nantichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we1 have worked for, but may win a full oreward. 9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever pabides in the teaching qhas both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, rdo not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.
Final Greetings
12 sThough I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead tI hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that uour joy may be complete.
13 The children of your elect sister greet you.
Greeting
1 aThe elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.
2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers1 came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are bwalking in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Support and Opposition
5 Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, cstrangers as they are, 6 who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. 7 For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing dfrom the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.
9 I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, ewho likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. 10 So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. fWhoever does good is from God; gwhoever does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that hour testimony is true.
Final Greetings
13 iI had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. 14 jI hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, keach by name.
Greeting
1 Jude, a servant1 of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
To those who are acalled, bbeloved in God the Father and kept for2 Jesus Christ:
2 May mercy, peace, and love be cmultiplied to you.
Judgment on False Teachers
3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our dcommon salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have ecrept in unnoticed who flong ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into gsensuality and hdeny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, iwho saved3 a people out of the land of Egypt, jafterward destroyed kthose who did not believe. 6 lAnd the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 mjust as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise nindulged in sexual immorality and pursued ounnatural desire,4 serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, preject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. 9 But when the qarchangel rMichael, contending with the devil, was disputing about sthe body of Moses, he tdid not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, u“The Lord rebuke you.” 10 vBut these people blaspheme all that wthey do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11 Woe to them! For they walked in xthe way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to yBalaam’s zerror and perished in aKorah’s rebellion. 12 bThese are hidden reefs5 at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, cshepherds feeding themselves; dwaterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; 13 ewild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.
14 It was also about these that fEnoch, gthe seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with hten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are iloud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.
A Call to Persevere
17 But jyou must remember, beloved, the predictions of the kapostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They6 said to you, l“In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who mcause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, nbuilding yourselves up in your most holy faith and opraying in the Holy Spirit, 21 pkeep yourselves in the love of God, qwaiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even rthe garment7 stained by the flesh.
Doxology
24 sNow to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you tblameless ubefore the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, vbe glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time8 and now and forever. Amen.
