September 24: Ecclesiastes 10–12; Psalm 78:40–72; Acts 1

Ecclesiastes 10–12 (Listen)

10Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench;
so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
2A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right,
but a fool’s heart to the left.
3Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense,
and he says to everyone that he is a fool.
4If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place,
for calmness^{Hebrew healing“>1} will lay great offenses to rest.

5There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were an error proceeding from the ruler: 6folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place. 7I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on the ground like slaves.

8He who digs a pit will fall into it,
and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall.
9He who quarries stones is hurt by them,
and he who splits logs is endangered by them.
10If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge,
he must use more strength,
but wisdom helps one to succeed.^{Or wisdom is an advantage for success“>2}
11If the serpent bites before it is charmed,
there is no advantage to the charmer.


12The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor,^{Or are gracious“>3}
but the lips of a fool consume him.
13The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness,
and the end of his talk is evil madness.
14A fool multiplies words,
though no man knows what is to be,
and who can tell him what will be after him?
15The toil of a fool wearies him,
for he does not know the way to the city.


16Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,
and your princes feast in the morning!
17Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility,
and your princes feast at the proper time,
for strength, and not for drunkenness!
18Through sloth the roof sinks in,
and through indolence the house leaks.
19Bread is made for laughter,
and wine gladdens life,
and money answers everything.
20Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king,
nor in your bedroom curse the rich,
for a bird of the air will carry your voice,
or some winged creature tell the matter.

Cast Your Bread upon the Waters

11Cast your bread upon the waters,
for you will find it after many days.
2Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,
for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.
3If the clouds are full of rain,
they empty themselves on the earth,
and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,
in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
4He who observes the wind will not sow,
and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

5As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb^{Some Hebrew manuscripts, Targum; most Hebrew manuscripts As you do not know the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb“>4} of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

6In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

7Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.

8So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.^{The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also verse 10 (see note on 1:2)“>5}

9Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

10Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain^{Or evil“>6} from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

Remember Your Creator in Your Youth

12Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, 4and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low—5they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,^{Or is a burden“>7} and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets—6before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8Vanity^{The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (three times in this verse); see note on 1:2“>8} of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

Fear God and Keep His Commandments

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

11The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. 12My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

13The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.^{Or the duty of all mankind“>9} 14For God will bring every deed into judgment, with^{Or into the judgment on“>10} every secret thing, whether good or evil.

(ESV)

Psalm 78:40–72 (Listen)

40How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
and grieved him in the desert!
41They tested God again and again
and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42They did not remember his power^{Hebrew hand“>1}
or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,
43when he performed his signs in Egypt
and his marvels in the fields of Zoan.
44He turned their rivers to blood,
so that they could not drink of their streams.
45He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them,
and frogs, which destroyed them.
46He gave their crops to the destroying locust
and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47He destroyed their vines with hail
and their sycamores with frost.
48He gave over their cattle to the hail
and their flocks to thunderbolts.
49He let loose on them his burning anger,
wrath, indignation, and distress,
a company of destroying angels.
50He made a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death,
but gave their lives over to the plague.
51He struck down every firstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52Then he led out his people like sheep
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid,
but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54And he brought them to his holy land,
to the mountain which his right hand had won.
55He drove out nations before them;
he apportioned them for a possession
and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.


56Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God
and did not keep his testimonies,
57but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;
they twisted like a deceitful bow.
58For they provoked him to anger with their high places;
they moved him to jealousy with their idols.
59When God heard, he was full of wrath,
and he utterly rejected Israel.
60He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh,
the tent where he dwelt among mankind,
61and delivered his power to captivity,
his glory to the hand of the foe.
62He gave his people over to the sword
and vented his wrath on his heritage.
63Fire devoured their young men,
and their young women had no marriage song.
64Their priests fell by the sword,
and their widows made no lamentation.
65Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
like a strong man shouting because of wine.
66And he put his adversaries to rout;
he put them to everlasting shame.


67He rejected the tent of Joseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he loves.
69He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
like the earth, which he has founded forever.
70He chose David his servant
and took him from the sheepfolds;
71from following the nursing ewes he brought him
to shepherd Jacob his people,
Israel his inheritance.
72With upright heart he shepherded them
and guided them with his skillful hand.

(ESV)

Acts 1 (Listen)

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

1In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

4And while staying^{Or eating“>1} with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with^{Or in“>2} the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

The Ascension

6So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas

12Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.^{Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verse 15“>3}

15In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16“Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18(Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong^{Or swelling up“>4} he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20“For it is written in the Book of Psalms,

“‘May his camp become desolate,
and let there be no one to dwell in it’;

and

“‘Let another take his office.’

21So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 23And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

(ESV)