The Daily Audio Bible
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Learn about life and death
7 If people respect you as a good person,
that is better than expensive perfume.
The day of your death is better than the day of your birth.
2 If you go to a house where there is a funeral,
that is better for you than to go to a party.
Everyone will die one day.
People should think about death while they are still alive.
3 If you are sad,
that is better for you than to laugh all the time.
We learn more about ourselves when we are sad.
4 A wise person thinks about funerals and what they mean.
A foolish person thinks about how to enjoy a party.
5 If a wise person warns you, listen to him.
That is better for you than to listen to the songs of a foolish person.
6 If you use thorn bushes to make a fire,
they make a lot of noise but they burn too quickly.
When a foolish person laughs,
their noise also has no purpose.
7 If a wise person cheats people,
he becomes a fool.
If you accept a bribe,
you will no longer think properly.
8 If you finish some work,
that is better than to start something new.
It is better to be patient than to be proud.
9 Control your angry thoughts.
Only fools allow their anger to continue.
10 Do not say, ‘Everything was a lot better in the past.’
Those are not wise thoughts.
11 It is good to have wisdom,
like money that you receive from your father.
Wisdom helps everyone who lives.
12 Both wisdom and money can keep you safe.
But wisdom is better.
If you are wise, your knowledge can save your life.
13 Think about the things that God has done.
If God has bent something,
nobody can make it straight again.
14 If your life is good, you should be happy.
But if you have trouble, think about this:
God causes both joy and trouble in our lives.
We do not know what will happen next.
We can never know everything
15 In my short life on the earth
I have seen these things which have no purpose:
Sometimes righteous people may die when they are still young.
They did good things, but they died.
And sometimes wicked people continue to live for along time.
They did evil things, but they continued to live.
16 So do not try to be too good or too wise.
That might cause you to have trouble.
17 But do not be too wicked. Do not be a fool.
That might cause you to die when you are still young.
18 Remember both these things.
Do not forget either of them.
You can do that if you respect God and you obey him.[a]
19 Wisdom makes a wise person more powerful
than ten rulers in a city.
20 There is nobody on the earth who is so righteous
that they always do what is right.
There is nobody who never does a wrong thing.
21 Do not listen to all the things that people say about you.
You might hear your servant when he is cursing you!
22 Do not forget that you also have often cursed other people.
23 I have used wisdom to study all these things.
I tried very much to understand everything that happens.
But I could not do it.
24 People cannot understand these things.
The meaning of life is too difficult for anyone to understand.
25 I decided to study many things
so that I would become wise.
I wanted to understand the reason why things happen.
I also wanted to know why it is stupid to be wicked,
and why it is crazy to do foolish things.
26 I learned this:
Some women are like a trap that catches animals.
Women like that are more dangerous than death.
They may pretend to love you.
They may hold you in their arms.
But really their arms are like chains.
They want to catch you,
as hunters catch animals.
Women like that will easily catch
a man who has turned away from God.
But a man who pleases God
will escape from them.
27 This is what I, the Teacher, have learned.
I studied everything very carefully.
I wanted to know the reason why things happen.
28 I continued to try to learn more and more.
But I could not find the answers.
Among one thousand people,
I found one good man.
But among them all,
I did not find a good woman.
29 I did learn this:
God made people to do what is right.
But people have chosen their own way to do things.
8 This is what I know about people who are truly wise.
They know how to explain things.
Wisdom helps a person to be happy.
It causes them to smile even when they have trouble.
Obey the king
2 You promised God that you would serve the king faithfully.
So obey the king's commands.
3 If you are with the king,
do not leave in a hurry.
Do not join with people who plan turn against him.
Remember that the king can do anything that he wants to do.
4 The king's command has complete power.
Nobody can tell him that he is wrong.
5 Trouble will not come to anyone who obeys the king's command.
A wise person knows the right time to do things.
He also knows the right way to do them.
6 There is a right time for things to happen.
There is a right way to do things.
But trouble comes to people anyway.
7 Nobody knows what will happen in the future.
Nobody can tell us about it.
8 Nobody has the power to control the wind.
Also, nobody has the power to decide the day of their death.
Soldiers are not allowed to leave a battle.
Also, if people do wicked things,
that will not rescue them.
Things happen that are not fair
9 I saw all these things that happen on the earth. I thought about them a lot. I thought about the things that happen on the earth. I saw that people sometimes use their power to hurt other people.
10 I also saw that some wicked people receive honour after their death. Those wicked people had gone in and out of the holy place. People praised them in the city where they had done evil things. This also is difficult to understand.
11 People who are guilty should receive their punishment quickly. If that does not happen, other people also want to do evil things. 12 People who do lots of wicked things may live for a long time. But if someone respects and obeys God, they will surely enjoy a good life. 13 Wicked people will surely not enjoy a good life. Their lives will be like a shadow that quickly disappears. They do not respect God, so they will not live for a long time.
14 But this is something else that is difficult to understand: Sometimes righteous people suffer in the way the wicked people deserve. And sometimes wicked people enjoy the good things that righteous people deserve. I think that this is difficult to understand.
Enjoy life
15 So I think that we should enjoy our lives. People should be happy to eat, drink and enjoy their lives. That is the best thing for them to do. It will help them to enjoy the work that they do during their lives. That is the life which God has given them on the earth.
16 I tried very much to become wise. I wanted to understand the things that people do on the earth. People work in the day and in the night and they do not sleep. 17 I thought about everything that God has done. I realized that nobody understands everything that happens on the earth. Even if they try very much, they will not know everything. A wise person may say that he understands all these things. But really that is not possible.
Everyone will die
9 I thought about all these things so that I could understand them. I realized that God controls what happens to people. That includes righteous people and wise people. God decides the things that they do. Nobody knows what will happen in their lives. Other people may love them, or they may hate them.
2 But there is something which happens to everyone. It happens to righteous people and it happens to wicked people. It happens to good people and it happens to bad people. It happens to people who are clean in front of God and it happens to people who are unclean. It happens to people who offer sacrifices to God and it happens to people who do not do that. It happens to good people and to people who turn away from God. It happens to people who make promises to God. It also happens to people who are afraid to do that. 3 Finally, the same thing happens to everyone on the earth. That seems to be a terrible thing. People choose to do evil things. While they are alive, they choose to live like fools. And after that, they die.
4 Anyone who is alive in the world has some hope for good things in the future. It is better to be a dog that is alive than to be a lion that is dead. 5 People who are alive know that they will die one day. But dead people do not know anything. No more good things can happen to them. Nobody remembers them. 6 Everything that they did in the world has finished. If they loved people, if they hated people, if they were jealous of people, all that has finished. They no longer having anything to do with the things that happen on the earth.
Enjoy life
7 So be happy as you eat your food. Be happy as you drink your wine. God is pleased with you as you do these things. 8 Always dress yourself well in good clothes. Use as much sweet oil as you need on your head. 9 Love your wife and enjoy your life together with her. God has given you your life. It is a short life and it is difficult to understand everything that happens. God wants you to enjoy these things as you do hard work during your life on the earth. 10 Use all your strength to do the work that you are doing. One day you will die and you will go into your grave. Then you will not have any work, or ideas, or knowledge or wisdom. So do your work well while you are alive.
11 I have seen another thing that happens here on the earth.
The runner who runs fastest does not always win the race.
The strongest soldiers do not always win the battle.
Very wise people do not always have food to eat.
Very clever people do not always become rich.
People who have learned many things are not always successful.
Yes, anything may happen to anyone at any time.
12 Nobody knows the time when trouble may come to them.
A fish does not know when somebody will catch it in a net.
A bird does not know when somebody will catch it in a trap.
In the same way, terrible trouble suddenly happens to people when they do not expect it.
Better to be wise than to be a fool
13 I saw something else that happens on the earth. It is a good example of what wisdom is like. 14 There was a small city and only a few people lived in it. A powerful king came to attack that city. His army made their camp around the city. They built heaps of earth all around it. 15 There was a man who lived in the city. He was poor but he was also wise. Because he was wise, he knew how to save the city. But after he saved it, nobody remembered that poor man.
16 So I realized that wisdom is better than power. But if you are poor, nobody accepts that you are also wise. People soon forget what you said.
17 A wise person speaks quietly.
But it is good to listen carefully to him.
His words have more value than a king
who is shouting to a crowd of fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons that are used to fight a war.
But one bad person can destroy many good things.
8 But even if I made you sad by my letter, I am not sorry about that. At one time, I was sorry that I had written it. I saw that my letter had made you sad. But you were sad only for a short time. 9 So now I am happy, but not because my letter made you sad. No, I am happy because it made you turn away from wrong things. You became sad as God wanted you to be sad. So, when the letter made you sad, we did not really hurt you. 10 People need to become sad in the way that God wants. When they are sad like that, it causes them to turn away from wrong things. Then God saves them from their sins. They will never be sorry about that! But when people become sad in the way that the world wants, it does not help them. They do not turn to God and they die in their spirits.
11 You became sad in the way that God wanted. And see what good results that has brought! It has made you work hard to do good things. You want to show people that you do what is right. You are angry against sin. You want to obey God. You want to make things right again. You want to please God. You want to punish anyone who does wrong things. In all these ways, you have shown that you are right. You have done everything that was necessary in this matter.
12 So why did I write that letter to you? It was not because of the person who did the wrong thing. Nor was it to help the person that he hurt. No. I wrote the letter to show you something about yourselves. I wanted God to show you that you do really love us and you respect us. 13 That is how God has comforted us.
It was not only us that God comforted. When Titus came, we were very happy to see how happy he was too. He was happy because all of you had taken care of him. 14 I had told Titus that I was very proud of you. When he came to you, you showed that I was right about you. We have always spoken only true things to you. And when we said good things about you to Titus, you showed that those things were also true. 15 Now, when Titus thinks about you, he loves you even more. He remembers that you were ready to obey him. You respected his authority and you received him into your homes.
16 So now I am very happy because I trust you to do what is right.
This is a psalm that the sons of Korah wrote.
Zion is God's city
48 The Lord is great.
He deserves that people praise him
in the city of our God,
on his holy mountain.
2 That place is high up and it is beautiful.
It brings joy to the whole world.
Mount Zion is the city of the great King.
It is where the true God lives.[a]
3 God is there in its strong places
and he keeps the city safe.
4 Look! There are kings of other nations
who join together to attack our city.
5 But when they come near and they see it,
they are very surprised.
It frightens them so much
that they quickly run away!
6 They cannot stop themselves shaking,
like a woman who is giving birth to a baby!
7 You push them away,
like an east wind that destroys great ships.
8 We had heard about the great things that God has done.
Now we have seen them for ourselves,
here in the city of the Lord Almighty,
the city of our God.
It is God who keeps the city safe for ever!
Selah.
9 When we are in your temple, God,
we think about your faithful love.
10 You are famous all over the world,
so that people praise you as you deserve.
You are powerful
and you rule with justice.
11 Because you judge people in a right way,
Mount Zion and all the towns of Judah will be happy.
12 Walk all round Zion and look at it.
Count the towers.
13 Look at its strong buildings and its strong walls.
Then you will be able to describe it to your children.[b]
14 Yes, this is our God, who is with us for ever!
He will always be our guide.
30 wise thoughts
17 Listen carefully. I will teach you what wise people have said. Think about the things that I am teaching you. 18 If you remember these things, you will be happy. Tell them to other people. 19 I want you to trust in the Lord. So I will tell you these things today. They are for you.
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