Monday in Season after Pentecost

12Verse 12. Ephraim surrounds Me with lies, the house of Israel with deceit; but Judah still walks with God and is faithful to the Holy One. 1Verse 1. Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt. 2Verse 2. The LORD has a charge to bring against Judah. He will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds. 3Verse 3. In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel, and in his vigor he wrestled with God. 4Verse 4. Yes, he struggled with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor; he found Him at Bethel and spoke with Him there — 5Verse 5. the LORD God of Hosts, the LORD is His name of renown. 6Verse 6. But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and always wait on your God. 7Verse 7. A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands. 8Verse 8. And Ephraim boasts: “How rich I have become! I have found wealth for myself. In all my labors, they can find in me no iniquity that is sinful.” 9Verse 9. But I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt. I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast. 10Verse 10. I spoke through the prophets and multiplied their visions; I gave parables through the prophets. 11Verse 11. Is there iniquity in Gilead? They will surely come to nothing. Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stones in the furrows of the field. 12Verse 12. Jacob fled to the land of Aram and Israel worked for a wife — for a wife he tended sheep. 13Verse 13. But by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved. 14Verse 14. Ephraim has provoked bitter anger, so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt upon him and repay him for his contempt.

1Verse 1. I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!” But it proved to be futile. 2Verse 2. I said of laughter, “It is folly,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?” 3Verse 3. I sought to cheer my body with wine and to embrace folly— my mind still guiding me with wisdom— until I could see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives. 4Verse 4. I expanded my pursuits. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. 5Verse 5. I made gardens and parks for myself, where I planted all kinds of fruit trees. 6Verse 6. I built reservoirs to water my groves of flourishing trees. 7Verse 7. I acquired menservants and maidservants, and servants were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me, 8Verse 8. and I accumulated for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered to myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men — many concubines. 9Verse 9. So I became great and surpassed all in Jerusalem who had preceded me; and my wisdom remained with me. 10Verse 10. Anything my eyes desired, I did not deny myself. I refused my heart no pleasure. For my heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. 11Verse 11. Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun. 12Verse 12. Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished? 13Verse 13. And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness: 14Verse 14. The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both. 15Verse 15. So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile. 16Verse 16. For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool! 17Verse 17. So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.