Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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1 I thought long and hard about
all this and saw that God controls
the actions of wise and righteous
men, even their love and their
hate. No one knows anything about
what lies ahead of him.
2 It makes no
difference. noteThe same fate comes to
the righteous and the wicked, to the
good and the bad, note to those who are
religious and those who are not, to
those who offer sacrifices and those
who do not. A good man is no better
off than a sinner; a man who takes
an oath is no better off than one who
does not.
3 One fate comes to all
alike, and this is as wrong as anything
that happens in this world. As
long as people live, their minds are
full of evil and madness, and suddenly
they die.
4 But anyone who is
alive in the world of the living has
some hope; a live dog is better off
than a dead lion.
5 Yes, the living
know they are going to die, but the
dead know nothing. They have no
further reward; they are completely
forgotten.
6 Their loves, their hates,
their passions, all died with them.
They will never again take part in
anything that happens in this world.
7 Go ahead—eat your food and be
happy; drink your wine and be
cheerful. It's all right with God.
8 Always
look happy and cheerful.
9 Enjoy
life with the woman you love, as
long as you live the useless life that
God has given you in this world. Enjoy
every useless day of it, because
that is all you will get for all your
trouble.
10 Work hard at whatever
you do, because there will be no action,
no thought, no knowledge, no
wisdom in the world of the dead—
and that is where you are going.
11 I realized another thing, that in
this world fast runners do not always
win the races, and the brave do
not always win the battles. Wise
men do not always earn a living, intelligent
men do not always get rich,
and capable men do not always rise
to high positions. Bad luck happens
to everyone.
12 You never know
when your time is coming. Like
birds suddenly caught in a trap, like
fish caught in a net, we are trapped
at some evil moment when we least
expect it.
Thoughts on Wisdom and Foolishness
13 There is something else I saw, a
good example of how wisdom is regarded
in this world.
14 There was a
little town without many people in
it. A powerful king attacked it. He
surrounded it and prepared to break
-- --
through the walls.
15 A man lived
there who was poor, but so clever
that he could have saved the town.
But no one thought about him. note
16 I
have always said that wisdom is better
than strength, but no one thinks
of a poor man as wise or pays any
attention to what he says.
17 It is better
to listen to the quiet words of a
wise man than to the shouts of a
ruler at a council of fools.
18 Wisdom
does more good than weapons, but
one sinner can undo a lot of good.
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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