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AUGUST 27
A time to keep silence, “God shall judge the righteous and the
And a time to speak; wicked,
8 A time to love, For there is a time there for every
And a time to hate; purpose and for every work.”
A time of war,
18 I said in my heart, “Concerning the condition
And a time of peace.
of the sons of men, God tests them, that they
9 What profit has the worker from that in may see that they themselves are like animals.”
which he labors? I have seen the God-given 19 For what happens to the sons of men also
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task with which the sons of men are to be happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as
occupied. He has made everything beautiful one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all
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in its time. Also He has put eternity in their have one breath; man has no advantage over
hearts, except that no one can find out the animals, for all is vanity. All go to one place: all
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work that God does from beginning to end. are from the dust, and all return to dust. Who
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12 I know that nothing is better for them than knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes
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to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and upward, and the spirit of the animal, which
also that every man should eat and drink and goes down to the earth? So I perceived that
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enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of nothing is better than that a man should
God. rejoice in his own works, for that is his heri-
tage. For who can bring him to see what will
happen after him?
3:1–8 a season,a time. Not only does God fix Psalm 102:12–17
the standard and withhold or dispense satis- 12 But You, O LORD, shall endure forever,
faction (2:26), but He also appoints “seasons” And the remembrance of Your name to
and “times.” Earthly pursuits are good in their all generations.
proper place and time, but unprofitable when
13 You will arise and have mercy on Zion;
pursued as the chief goal (vv. 9,10).
For the time to favor her,
Yes, the set time, has come.
3:11 everything. Every activity or event for
14 For Your servants take pleasure in her
which a culmination point may be fixed.
beautiful. Fitting or appropriate. The phrase stones,
echoes “God saw…it was very good” (Gen. And show favor to her dust.
1:31).Even in a cursed universe,activity should 15 So the nations shall fear the name of
not be meaningless.Its futility lies in the fickle the LORD,
satisfaction of man and his failure to trust the And all the kings of the earth Your
wisdom of sovereign God. put eternity in glory.
their hearts. God made men for His eternal 16 For the LORD shall build up Zion;
purpose, and nothing in post-Fall time can He shall appear in His glory.
bring them complete satisfaction. 17 He shall regard the prayer of the
destitute,
And shall not despise their prayer.
14 I know that whatever God does,
It shall be forever. Proverbs 24:3–4
Nothing can be added to it, 3 Through wisdom a house is built,
And nothing taken from it. And by understanding it is established;
God does it, that men should fear 4 By knowledge the rooms are filled
before Him. With all precious and pleasant riches.
15 That which is has already been,
And what is to be has already been; 1 Corinthians 8:1–13
And God requires an account of what Now concerning things offered to idols:
is past.
8 We know that we all have knowledge.
2
16 Moreover I saw under the sun: Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if
anyone thinks that he knows anything, he
In the place of judgment, knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if
3
Wickedness was there; anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.
And in the place of righteousness, 4 Therefore concerning the eating of things
Iniquity was there.
offered to idols, we know that an idol is noth-
17 I said in my heart, ing in the world, and that there is no other God
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