One Year Bible.

Wisdom and Folly

¹As dead flies bring a stench to the perfumer’s oil,

so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

²A wise man’s heart inclines to the right,

but the heart of a fool to the left.

³Even as the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking,

and he shows everyone that he is a fool.

⁴If the ruler’s temper flares against you, do not abandon your post,

for calmness lays great offenses to rest.

⁵There is an evil I have seen under the sun —

an error that proceeds from the ruler:

⁶Folly is appointed to great heights,

but the rich sit in lowly positions.

⁷I have seen slaves on horseback,

while princes go on foot like slaves.

⁸He who digs a pit may fall into it,

and he who breaches a wall may be bitten by a snake.

⁹The one who quarries stones may be injured by them,

and he who splits logs endangers himself.

¹⁰If the axe is dull and the blade unsharpened,

more strength must be exerted,

but skill produces success.

¹¹If the snake bites before it is charmed,

there is no profit for the charmer.

¹²The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious,

but the lips of a fool consume him.

¹³The beginning of his talk is folly,

and the end of his speech is evil madness.

¹⁴Yet the fool multiplies words.

No one knows what is coming,

and who can tell him what will come after him?

¹⁵The toil of a fool wearies him,

for he does not know the way to the city.

¹⁶Woe to you, O land whose king is a youth,

and whose princes feast in the morning.

¹⁷Blessed are you, O land whose king is a son of nobles,

and whose princes feast at the proper time—

for strength and not for drunkenness.

¹⁸Through laziness the roof caves in,

and in the hands of the idle, the house leaks.

¹⁹A feast is prepared for laughter, and wine makes life merry,

but money is the answer for everything.

²⁰Do not curse the king even in your thoughts,

or curse the rich even in your bedroom,

for a bird of the air may carry your words,

and a winged creature may report your speech.

Cast Your Bread upon the Waters

¹Cast your bread upon the waters,

for after many days you will find it again.

²Divide your portion among seven, or even eight,

for you do not know what disaster may befall the land.

³If the clouds are full,

they will pour out rain upon the earth;

whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,

in the place where it falls, there it will lie.

⁴He who watches the wind will fail to sow,

and he who observes the clouds will fail to reap.

⁵As you do not know the path of the wind,

or how the bones are formed in a mother’s womb,

so you cannot understand the work of God,

the Maker of all things.

⁶Sow your seed in the morning,

and do not rest your hands in the evening,

for you do not know which will succeed,

whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.

Enjoy Your Years

⁷Light is sweet,

and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.

⁸So if a man lives many years,

let him rejoice in them all.

But let him remember the days of darkness,

for they will be many.

Everything to come is futile.

⁹Rejoice, O young man, while you are young,

and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth.

Walk in the ways of your heart

and in the sight of your eyes,

but know that for all these things

God will bring you to judgment.

¹⁰So banish sorrow from your heart,

and cast off pain from your body,

for youth and vigor are fleeting.

Remember Your Creator

¹Remember your Creator in the days of your youth,

before the days of adversity come

and the years approach of which you will say,

“I find no pleasure in them,”

²before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is darkened,

and the clouds return after the rain,

³on the day the keepers of the house tremble

and the strong men stoop,

when those grinding cease because they are few

and those watching through windows see dimly,

⁴when the doors to the street are shut

and the sound of the mill fades away,

when one rises at the sound of a bird

and all the daughters of song grow faint,

⁵when men fear the heights and dangers of the road,

when the almond tree blossoms,

the grasshopper loses its spring,

and the caper berry shrivels —

for then man goes to his eternal home

and mourners walk the streets.

⁶Remember Him before the silver cord is snapped

and the golden bowl is crushed,

before the pitcher is shattered at the spring

and the wheel is broken at the well,

⁷before the dust returns to the ground from which it came

and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

⁸“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher.

“Everything is futile!”

The Whole Duty of Man

⁹Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also taught the people knowledge; he pondered, searched out, and arranged many proverbs. ¹⁰The Teacher searched to find delightful sayings and to record accurate words of truth.

¹¹The words of the wise are like goads, and the anthologies of the masters are like firmly embedded nails driven by a single Shepherd. ¹²And by these, my son, be further warned: There is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body.

¹³When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man. ¹⁴For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

The Wedding at Cana

¹On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ²and Jesus and His disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to Him, “They have no more wine.”

⁴“Woman, what is that to you and to Me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

⁵His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”

⁶Now six stone water jars had been set there for the Jewish rites of purification. Each could hold from twenty to thirty gallons. ⁷Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.”

So they filled them to the brim.

⁸“Now draw some out,” He said, “and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, ⁹and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not know where it was from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside ¹⁰and said, “Everyone serves the fine wine first, and then the cheap wine after the guests are drunk. But you have saved the fine wine until now!”

¹¹Jesus performed this, the first of His signs, at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

¹²After this, He went down to Capernaum with His mother and brothers and His disciples, and they stayed there a few days.

¹³When the Jewish Passover was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴In the temple courts He found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and money changers seated at their tables. ¹⁵So He made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle. He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶To those selling doves He said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn My Father’s house into a marketplace!”

¹⁷His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for Your house will consume Me.”

¹⁸On account of this, the Jews demanded, “What sign can You show us to prove Your authority to do these things?”

¹⁹Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.”

²⁰“This temple took forty-six years to build,” the Jews replied, “and You are going to raise it up in three days?”

²¹But Jesus was speaking about the temple of His body. ²²After He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this. Then they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

²³While He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the signs He was doing and believed in His name. ²⁴But Jesus did not entrust Himself to them, for He knew them all. ²⁵He did not need any testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man.

Jesus and Nicodemus

¹Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. ²He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs You are doing if God were not with him.”

³Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

⁴“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time to be born?”

⁵Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. ⁶Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit. ⁷Do not be amazed that I said, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

⁹“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and you do not understand these things? ¹¹Truly, truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, and yet you people do not accept our testimony.

¹²If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven— the Son of Man. ¹⁴Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.

¹⁶For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

¹⁹And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹But whoever practices the truth comes into the Light, so that it may be seen clearly that what he has done has been accomplished in God.”

John’s Testimony about Jesus

²²After this, Jesus and His disciples went into the Judean countryside, where He spent some time with them and baptized.

²³Now John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because the water was plentiful there, and people kept coming to be baptized. ²⁴(For John had not yet been thrown into prison.)

²⁵Then a dispute arose between John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the issue of ceremonial washing. ²⁶So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Look, Rabbi, the One who was with you beyond the Jordan, the One you testified about — He is baptizing, and everyone is going to Him.”

²⁷John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. ²⁸You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but am sent ahead of Him.’ ²⁹The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. ³⁰He must increase; I must decrease.

³¹The One who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth. The One who comes from heaven is above all. ³²He testifies to what He has seen and heard, yet no one accepts His testimony. ³³Whoever accepts His testimony has certified that God is truthful. ³⁴For the One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.

³⁵The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in His hands. ³⁶Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”