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Ecclesiastes 11

1 Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days.

2 Give a portion to seven, yea, even unto eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth; and if a tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there shall it be.

4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.

5 As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind, `nor' how the bones `do grow' in the womb of her that is with child; even so thou knowest not the work of God who doeth all.

6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand; for thou knowest not which shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

7 Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun.

8 Yea, if a man live many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.

9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

Ecclesiastes 12

1 Remember also thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

2 before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars, are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain;

3 in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows shall be darkened,

4 and the doors shall be shut in the street; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one shall rise up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low;

5 yea, they shall be afraid of `that which is' high, and terrors `shall be' in the way; and the almond-tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goeth to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about the streets:

6 before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern,

7 and the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it.

8 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity.

9 And further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he pondered, and sought out, `and' set in order many proverbs.

10 The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written uprightly, `even' words of truth.

11 The words of the wise are as goads; and as nails well fastened are `the words of' the masters of assemblies, `which' are given from one shepherd.

12 And furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

13 `This is' the end of the matter; all hath been heard: fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole `duty' of man.

14 For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians Chapter 7

2 Corinthians 7

1 Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

2 Open your hearts to us: we wronged no man, we corrupted no man, we took advantage of no man.

3 I say it not to condemn `you': for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die together and live together.

4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying on your behalf: I am filled with comfort, I overflow with joy in all our affliction.

5 For even when we were come into Macedonia our flesh had no relief, but `we were' afflicted on every side; without `were' fightings, within `were' fears.

6 Nevertheless he that comforteth the lowly, `even' God, comforted us by the coming of Titus;

7 and not by his coming only, but also by the comfort wherewith he was comforted in you, while he told us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced yet more.

8 For though I made you sorry with my epistle, I do not regret it: though I did regret `it' (for I see that that epistle made you sorry, though but for a season),

9 I now rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye were made sorry unto repentance; for ye were made sorry after a godly sort, that ye might suffer loss by us in nothing.

10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, `a repentance' which bringeth no regret: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

11 For behold, this selfsame thing, that ye were made sorry after a godly sort, what earnest care it wrought in you, yea what clearing of yourselves, yea what indignation, yea what fear, yea what longing, yea what zeal, yea what avenging! In everything ye approved yourselves to be pure in the matter.

12 So although I wrote unto you, I `wrote' not for his cause that did the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered the wrong, but that your earnest care for us might be made manifest unto you in the sight of God.

13 Therefore we have been comforted: And in our comfort we joyed the more exceedingly for the joy of Titus, because his spirit hath been refreshed by you all.

14 For if in anything I have gloried to him on your behalf, I was not put to shame; but as we spake all things to you in truth, so our glorying also which I made before Titus was found to be truth.

15 And his affection is more abundantly toward you, while he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him.

16 I rejoice that in everything I am of good courage concerning you.

Bible Background

PARABLES

Part 5 of 5

The Bible as a whole in many ways is a parable. It is the story of God's interaction with his people over several thousand years. It is full of lessons and parallels. It is puzzling and thought-provoking. It is a story with a purpose:

"These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" I Corinthians 10:11-12

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