The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

I haue seene all things in the dayes of my vanitie: there is a iust man that perisheth in his iustice, and there is a wicked man that continueth long in his malice.

Be not thou iust ouermuch, neither make thy selfe ouerwise: wherefore shouldest thou be desolate?

Be not thou wicked ouermuch, neither be thou foolish: wherefore shouldest thou perish not in thy time?

It is good that thou lay hold on this: but yet withdrawe not thine hand from that: for he that feareth God, shall come forth of them all.

Wisedome shall strengthen the wise man more then ten mightie princes that are in ye citie.

Surely there is no man iust in the earth, that doeth good and sinneth not.

Giue not thine heart also to all ye wordes that men speake, lest thou doe heare thy seruant cursing thee.

For often times also thine heart knoweth that thou likewise hast cursed others.

All this haue I prooued by wisedome: I thought I will be wise, but it went farre from me.

It is farre off, what may it be? and it is a profound deepenesse, who can finde it?

I haue compassed about, both I and mine heart to knowe and to enquire and to search wisedome, and reason, and to knowe the wickednesse of follie, and the foolishnesse of madnesse,

And I finde more bitter then death the woman whose heart is as nettes and snares, and her handes, as bands: he that is good before God, shalbe deliuered from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her.

Beholde, sayth the Preacher, this haue I found, seeking one by one to finde the count:

And yet my soule seeketh, but I finde it not: I haue found one man of a thousand: but a woman among them all haue I not founde.

Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? the wisedome of a man doth make his face to shine: and the strength of his face shalbe changed.

I aduertise thee to take heede to ye mouth of the King, and to the worde of the othe of God.

Haste not to goe forth of his sight: stand not in an euill thing: for he will doe whatsoeuer pleaseth him.

Where the word of ye King is, there is power, and who shall say vnto him, What doest thou?

He that keepeth the commandement, shall knowe none euill thing, and the heart of the wise shall knowe the time and iudgement.

For to euery purpose there is a time and iudgement, because the miserie of man is great vpon him.

For he knoweth not that which shalbe: for who can tell him when it shalbe?

Man is not lorde ouer the spirit to retaine the spirite: neither hath hee power in the day of death, nor deliuerance in the battell, neither shall wickednesse deliuer the possessers thereof.

All this haue I seene, and haue giuen mine heart to euery worke, which is wrought vnder the sunne, and I sawe a time that man ruleth ouer man to his owne hurt.

And likewise I sawe the wicked buried, and they returned, and they that came from the holy place, were yet forgotten in the citie where they had done right: this also is vanitie.

Because sentence against an euill worke is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the children of men is fully set in them to doe euill.

Though a sinner doe euill an hundreth times, and God prolongeth his dayes, yet I knowe that it shalbe well with them that feare the Lord, and doe reuerence before him.

But it shall not be well to the wicked, neither shall he prolong his dayes: he shall be like a shadowe, because he feareth not before God.

There is a vanitie, which is done vpon the earth, that there be righteous men to whom it commeth according to the worke of the wicked: and there be wicked men to whom it commeth according to the worke of the iust: I thought also that this is vanitie.

And I praysed ioy: for there is no goodnesse to man vnder the sunne, saue to eate and to drinke and to reioyce: for this is adioyned to his labour, the dayes of his life that God hath giuen him vnder the sunne.

When I applied mine heart to knowe wisedome, and to behold the busines that is done on earth, that neither day nor night the eyes of man take sleepe,

Then I behelde the whole worke of God, that man cannot finde out ye worke that is wrought vnder the sunne: for the which man laboureth to seeke it, and cannot finde it: yea, and though the wise man thinke to knowe it, he cannot finde it.

I have surely giuen mine heart to all this, and to declare all this, that the iust, and the wise, and their workes are in the hand of God: and no man knoweth eyther loue or hatred of all that is before them.

All things come alike to all: and the same condition is to the iust and to the wicked, to the good and to the pure, and to the polluted, and to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner, he that sweareth, as he that feareth an othe.

This is euill among all that is done vnder the sunne, that there is one condition to all, and also the heart of the sonnes of men is full of euill, and madnes is in their heartes whiles they liue, and after that, they goe to the dead.

Surely whosoeuer is ioyned to all ye liuing, there is hope: for it is better to a liuing dog, then to a dead lyon.

For the liuing knowe that they shall dye, but the dead knowe nothing at all: neither haue they any more a rewarde: for their remembrance is forgotten.

Also their loue, and their hatred, and their enuie is now perished, and they haue no more portion for euer, in all that is done vnder the sunne.

Goe, eate thy bread with ioy, and drinke thy wine with a cheerefull heart: for God nowe accepteth thy workes.

At all times let thy garments be white, and let not oyle be lacking vpon thine head.

Reioyce with the wife whom thou hast loued all the dayes of the life of thy vanitie, which God hath giuen thee vnder the sunne all the dayes of thy vanitie: for this is thy portion in the life, and in thy trauaile wherein thou labourest vnder the sunne.

All that thine hand shall finde to doe, doe it with all thy power: for there is neither worke nor inuention, nor knowledge, nor wisedome in the graue whither thou goest.

I returned, and I sawe vnder the sunne that the race is not to the swift, nor the battell to the strong, nor yet bread to the wise, nor also riches to men of vnderstanding, neither yet fauour to men of knowledge: but time and chance commeth to them all.

For neither doth man knowe his time, but as the fishes which are taken in an euill net, and as the birdes that are caught in the snare: so are the children of men snared in the euill time when it falleth vpon them suddenly.

I haue also seene this wisedome vnder the sunne, and it is great vnto me.

A litle citie and fewe men in it, and a great King came against it, and compassed it about, and builded fortes against it.

And there was founde therein a poore and wise man, and he deliuered the citie by his wisedome: but none remembred this poore man.

Then said I, Better is wisdome then strength: yet the wisedome of the poore is despised, and his wordes are not heard.

The wordes of the wise are more heard in quietnes, then the crye of him that ruleth among fooles.

Better is wisedome then weapons of warre: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

Dead flies cause to stinke, and putrifie the ointment of the apoticarie: so doeth a litle follie him that is in estimation for wisedome, and for glorie.

The heart of a wise man is at his right hand: but the heart of a foole is at his left hand.

And also when the foole goeth by the way, his heart faileth, and he telleth vnto all that he is a foole.

If the spirite of him that ruleth, rise vp against thee, leaue not thy place: for gentlenes pacifieth great sinnes.

There is an euil that I haue seene vnder the sunne, as an errour that proceedeth from the face of him that ruleth.

Follie is set in great excellencie, and the riche set in the lowe place.

I haue seene seruants on horses, and princes walking as seruants on the ground.

He that diggeth a pit, shall fal into it, and he that breaketh the hedge, a serpent shall bite him.

He that remooueth stones, shall hurt himselfe thereby, and hee that cutteth wood, shall be in danger thereby.

If the yron be blunt, and one hath not whet the edge, he must then put to more strength: but the excellencie to direct a thing is wisedome.

If the serpent bite, when he is not charmed: no better is a babbler.

The words of ye mouth of a wise man haue grace: but the lippes of a foole deuoure himselfe.

The beginning of the wordes of his mouth is foolishnesse, and the latter ende of his mouth is wicked madnesse.

For the foole multiplieth woordes, saying, Man knoweth not what shall be: and who can tell him what shall be after him?

The labour of the foolish doeth wearie him: for he knoweth not to goe into the citie.

Woe to thee, O lande, when thy King is a childe, and thy princes eate in the morning.

Blessed art thou, O land, when thy King is the sonne of nobles, and thy princes eate in time, for strength and not for drunkennesse.

By slouthfulnes the roofe of the house goeth to decaie, and by the ydlenesse of the handes the house droppeth through.

They prepare bread for laughter, and wine comforteth the liuing, but siluer answereth to all.

Curse not the King, no not in thy thought, neither curse the rich in thy bed chamber: for the foule of the heauen shall carie the voice, and that which hath wings, shall declare the matter.

Cast thy bread vpon the waters: for after many daies thou shalt finde it.

Giue a portion to seuen, and also to eight: for thou knowest not what euill shalbe vpon ye earth.

If the clouds be full, they wil powre forth raine vpon the earth: and if the tree doe fall toward the South, or toward the North, in the place that the tree falleth, there it shalbe.

He that obserueth ye winde, shall not sow, and he that regardeth the cloudes, shall not reape.

As thou knowest not which is ye way of the spirit, nor how the bones doe growe in the wombe of her that is with child: so thou knowest not the worke of God that worketh all.

In the morning sowe thy seede, and in the euening let not thine hand rest: for thou knowest not whither shall prosper, this or that, or whether both shalbe a like good.

Surely the light is a pleasant thing: and it is a good thing to the eyes to see the sunne.

Though a man liue many yeeres, and in them all he reioyce, yet hee shall remember the daies of darkenesse, because they are manie, all that commeth is vanitie.

Reioyce, O yong man, in thy youth, and let thine heart cheere thee in the dayes of thy youth: and walke in the waies of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but knowe that for all these things, God wil bring thee to iudgement.

Therefore take away griefe out of thine heart, and cause euil to depart from thy flesh: for childehood and youth are vanitie.

Remember nowe thy Creator in the daies of thy youth, whiles the euill daies come not, nor the yeeres approche, wherein thou shalt say, I haue no pleasure in them:

Whiles the sunne is not darke, nor ye light, nor the moone, nor the starres, nor the cloudes returne after the raine:

When the keepers of ye house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow them selues, and the grinders shall cease, because they are few, and they waxe darke that looke out by ye windowes:

And the doores shall be shut without by the base sound of the grinding, and he shall rise vp at the voice of the birde: and all the daughters of singing shall be abased.

Also they shalbe afraide of the hie thing, and feare shalbe in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grassehopper shall be a burden, and concupiscence shall be driuen away: for man goeth to the house of his age, and the mourners goe about in the streete.

Whiles the siluer coarde is not lengthened, nor the golden ewer broken, nor the pitcher broken at the well, nor the wheele broken at the cisterne:

And dust returne to the earth as it was, and the spirit returne to God that gaue it.

Vanitie of vanities, saieth the Preacher, all is vanitie.

And the more wise the Preacher was, the more he taught the people knowledge, and caused them to heare, and searched foorth, and prepared many parables.

The Preacher sought to finde out pleasant wordes, and an vpright writing, euen the wordes of trueth.

The wordes of the wise are like goads, and like nailes fastened by the masters of the assemblies, which are giuen by one pastour.

And of other things beside these, my sone, take thou heede: for there is none ende in making many bookes, and much reading is a wearines of the flesh.

Let vs heare the end of all: feare God and keepe his commandements: for this is the whole duetie of man.

For God will bring euery worke vnto iudgement, with euery secret thing, whether it be good or euill.

Let him kisse me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy loue is better then wine.

Because of the sauour of thy good ointments thy name is as an ointment powred out: therefore the virgins loue thee.

Drawe me: we will runne after thee: the King hath brought me into his chabers: we will reioyce and be glad in thee: we will remember thy loue more then wine: the righteous do loue thee.

I am blacke, O daughters of Ierusalem, but comely, as the tentes of Kedar, and as the curtaines of Salomon.

Regard ye me not because I am blacke: for the sunne hath looked vpon mee. The sonnes of my mother were angry against mee: they made me the keeper of ye vines: but I kept not mine owne vine.

Shewe me, O thou, whome my soule loueth, where thou feedest, where thou liest at noone: for why should I be as she that turneth aside to the flockes of thy companions?