Ecclesiastes 2:23

I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.”

Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope

“Man, who is born of a woman, is of few days, and full of trouble.

I have seen the burden which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.

“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher. “All is vanity!”

that no one would be moved by these afflictions. For you know that we are appointed to this task.

Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings.

but man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

Aren’t my days few? Stop! Leave me alone, that I may find a little comfort,

How then can man be just with God? Or how can he who is born of a woman be clean?

Man is like a breath. His days are like a shadow that passes away.

Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man’s eyes are never satisfied.

There is a vanity which is done on the earth, that there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked. Again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.

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

In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.

if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, was made a servant.

But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

I John, your brother and partner with you in the oppression, Kingdom, and perseverance in Christ Jesus, was on the isle that is called Patmos because of God’s Word and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from having husbands? No, my daughters, for it grieves me seriously for your sakes, for Yahweh’s hand has gone out against me.”

But Yahweh’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and he destroyed them and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and its borders.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but Yahweh delivers him out of them all.

For your arrows have pierced me, your hand presses hard on me.

He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity.

All his days he also eats in darkness, he is frustrated, and has sickness and wrath.

Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a season!” Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him. He went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

Having spent some time there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples.

and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.

For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps,

You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground, for you were taken out of it. For you are dust, and you shall return to dust.”

The days of Isaac were one hundred eighty years.

When this matter was investigated, and it was found to be so, they were both hanged on a gallows; and it was written in the book of the chronicles in the king’s presence.

All the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?

What is man, that he should be clean? What is he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

Man sets an end to darkness, and searches out, to the furthest bound, the stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.

Behold, my terror will not make you afraid, neither will my pressure be heavy on you.

In peace I will both lay myself down and sleep, for you, Yahweh alone, make me live in safety.

Behold, you have made my days hand widths. My lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely every man stands as a breath.”

“Hear my prayer, Yahweh, and give ear to my cry. Don’t be silent at my tears. For I am a stranger with you, a foreigner, as all my fathers were.

Behold, I was born in iniquity. My mother conceived me in sin.

You hold my eyelids open. I am so troubled that I can’t speak.

Remember how short my time is, for what vanity you have created all the children of men!

The days of our years are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty years; yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for it passes quickly, and we fly away.

I am a stranger on the earth. Don’t hide your commandments from me.

Your statutes have been my songs in the house where I live.

When you lie down, you will not be afraid. Yes, you will lie down, and your sleep will be sweet.

All things are full of weariness beyond uttering. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also was a chasing after wind.

For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spends like a shadow? For who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun?

Though a sinner commits crimes a hundred times, and lives long, yet surely I know that it will be better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him.

Why did I come out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

How narrow is the gate, and restricted is the way that leads to life! Few are those who find it.

The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it didn’t fall, for it was founded on the rock.

Most certainly I tell you, among those who are born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptizer; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

who, when he had come, and had seen the grace of God, was glad. He exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they should remain near to the Lord.

Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged the brothers with many words and strengthened them.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Because it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer on his behalf,

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Whereas you don’t know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.

Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

For thus you will be richly supplied with the entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days on earth are a shadow.)

My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.

It is vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, eating the bread of toil, for he gives sleep to his loved ones.

“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”

Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all of my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.

For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, with knowledge, and with skillfulness; yet he shall leave it for his portion to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.

When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on the earth (even though eyes see no sleep day or night),

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

Then those who feared Yahweh spoke one with another; and Yahweh listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for those who feared Yahweh, and who honored his name.

What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!

Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. The days of the years of my life have been few and evil. They have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”

On that night, the king couldn’t sleep. He commanded the book of records of the chronicles to be brought, and they were read to the king.

For day and night your hand was heavy on me. My strength was sapped in the heat of summer.

Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen evil.

I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the sky. It is a heavy burden that God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.

For in much wisdom is much grief; and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. “For whom then, do I labor and deprive my soul of enjoyment?” This also is vanity. Yes, it is a miserable business.

The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.

All this I have seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in his evildoing.

Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting. No musical instruments were brought before him; and his sleep fled from him.

strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many afflictions we must enter into God’s Kingdom.