We made it! Join me as we read the last few chapters of Ecclesiastes together.

All right, you guys, welcome back to

another episode of I Can't, He Can.

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My name is Sarai.

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I'm your host, as you guys already know,

and we are here with another Sound Mind

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series episode, and today we are going

to do something a little bit different.

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We are going to do a part one, we are

going to do a part two of Ecclesiastes

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because even though this book is

pretty short, there's only 12 chapters,

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it has taken a while to finish.

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And I want to blame that on the fact

that I had to read it, like, three times

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for it to really sink in and for me to

not take things so literally as I was

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reading, um, or figuratively, I, I shall

say, I think, is the, the better word.

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Um, but we are going to read through

chapter 8 through chapter 12.

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That's going to be a lot.

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That's going to be a lot of information.

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Again, they're very short chapters,

but I'm going to read through that.

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However, since you guys already have

the context of chapters one through

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seven, I think that King Solomon's

writing is going to be a lot easier

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to understand as I am reading.

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Now, I do wanna note again that I am

reading from the New King James version.

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As I always say, please

have your Bibles with you.

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If you don't have a Bible, like I said

in the last episode, that was not the

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Sound Mind series, um, but I did say that

you guys can reach out to me via social

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media, um, or even email me if you need

your own Bible and I will get it to you.

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Um, very, very important

just to stay in the word.

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Um, I think I had also mentioned to

kinda lay off, like, the YouVersion

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apps and have an actual physical Bible,

but for me lately, I have also been

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going into YouVersion, um, 'cause I'm

just very tired and just not really

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wanting to sit here in my little corner.

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But we do need to keep God

and His word at the forefront.

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We do need to always make sure that we

are comparing what we hear and what we

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watch to this manual that God has le-

ha- excuse me, God has left for us.

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Um, so I always want to just

begin with that, uh, because it

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is just so important, especially

in these times that we are living.

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Um, so again, so that we can

commence and not, uh, ramble too

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much, I'm going to read chapter 8

of Ecclesiastes through chapter 12.

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I will not say, uh, verse for verse

per verse how, what, um, number

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I am reading, um, but I will tell

you before I start another chapter

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how many verses that chapter has.

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So chapter eight has a total of

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17 verses.

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Um, chapter nine has a total of 18 verses.

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So chapter 8 has 17, chapter 9 has 18,

chapter 10 has 20, chapter 11 has 10, and

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the shortest chapter, chapter 12, has 14.

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Actually, chapter 11 was shorter.

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But chapter 12 has 14 verses.

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So all in all, they are not very long.

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I just don't want to confuse you

or the flow of what I'm reading by

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saying verse 1, verse 2, verse 3.

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So that is why I am doing

it a little bit different.

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So again, to commence,

Ecclesiastes chapter 8, verse 1.

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Who is like a wise man, and who

knows the interpretation of a thing?

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A man's wisdom makes his face shine,

and the sternness of his face changed.

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Where the word of a

king is, there is power.

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And who may say to him,

What are you doing?

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He who keeps his commands will experience

nothing harmful, and a wise man's

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heart discerns both time and judgment.

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Because for every matter there is

a time and judgment, though the

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misery of man increases greatly.

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For he does not know what will happen,

so who can tell him when it will occur?

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No one has power over the spirit

to retain the spirit, and no one

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has power in the day of death.

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There is no release from the

war, and wickedness will not

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deliver those who are given to it.

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All this I have seen and applied my heart

to every work that is done under the sun.

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There is a time in which one man

rules over another to its own hurt.

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Then I saw the wicked buried, who

had come and gone from the place of

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holiness, and they were forgotten

in the city where he had so done.

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This also is vanity.

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Because the sentence against an

evil work is not executed speedily,

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therefore the heart of the sons of

men is fully set in them to do evil.

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Though a sinner does evil a hundred

times, and his days are prolonged, yet

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I surely know that it will be well with

those who fear God, who fear before him.

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But it will not be well with

the wicked, nor will he prolong

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his days, which are as a shadow,

because he does not fear before God.

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There is a vanity which occurs on earth,

that there are just men to whom it happens

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according to the work of the wicked.

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Again, there are wicked men

to whom it happens according

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to the work of the righteous.

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I said that this is also vanity.

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So I commended enjoyment, because a

man has nothing better under the sun

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than to eat, drink, and be merry.

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For this will remain with him in

labor all the days of his life

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which God gives him under the sun.

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When I applied my heart to know wisdom

and to see the business that is done

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on earth, even though one sees no sleep

day or night, then I saw all the work

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of God, that a man cannot find out

the work that is done under the sun.

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For though a man labors to discover

it, yet he will not find it.

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Moreover, though a wise man attempts to

know it, he will not be able to find it.

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That was the end of chapter eight.

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We are going to jump

in now to chapter nine.

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And as a reminder, that

has eighteen verses.

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Ecclesiastes chapter nine.

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For I considered all this in my

heart, so that I could declare it all:

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that the righteous and the wise and

their works are in the hand of God.

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People know neither love nor hatred

by anything they see before them.

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All things come alike to all: One

event happens to the righteous and

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the wicked; to the good, the clean,

and the unclean; to him who sacrifices

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and him who does not sacrifice.

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As is the good, so is the sinner.

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He who takes an oath is

he who fears an oath.

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There is an evil in all that is done under

the sun: the one thing happens to all.

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Truly, the heart of the sons

of men are full of evil.

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Madness is in their hearts while they

live, and after that they go to the dead.

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Before him who is joined to all the

living there is hope, for a living

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dog is better than a dead lion.

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For the living know that they will

die; but the dead know nothing,

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and they have no more reward, for

the memory of them is forgotten.

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Also their love, their hatred,

and their envy have now perished.

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Nevermore will they have a share

in anything done under the sun.

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Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink

your wine with a merry heart; for

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God has already accepted your works.

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Let your garments always be white,

and let your head lack no oil.

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Live joyfully with the wife whom you

love all the days of your vain life

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which He has given you under the

sun, all your days of vanity For that

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is your portion in life, and in the

labor which you perform under the sun.

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Whatever your hand finds to do, do

it with your might, for there is no

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work or device or knowledge or wisdom

in the grave where you are going.

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I returned, and I saw under the sun

that the race is not to the swift, nor

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the battle to the strong, nor bread

to the wise, nor riches to men of

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understanding, nor favor to men of skill;

but time and chance happen to them all.

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For man also does not know his time.

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Like fish taken in a cruel net, like

birds caught in a snare, so the sons

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of men are snared in an evil time

when it falls suddenly upon them.

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This wisdom I have also seen under

the sun, and it seemed great to me.

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There was a little city with few

men in it, and a great king came

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against it, besieged it, and

built great snares around it.

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Now there was found in it, in

it a poor wise man, and he by

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his wisdom delivered the city.

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Yet no one remembered that same poor man.

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Then I said, "Wisdom is

better than strength.

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Nevertheless, the poor man's wisdom is

despised, and his words are not heard.

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Words of the wise spoken quietly

should be heard, rather than

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the shout of a ruler of fools.

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Wisdom is better than weapons of war,

but one sinner destroys much good."

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That was the end of chapter nine, and wow.

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Every time I read it, I say, "This is

my favorite chapter," and I, I really

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do think chapter nine was my favorite.

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Um, but let's continue here.

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Ecclesiastes chapter 10.

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Dead flies putrefy the perfumer's

ointment and cause it to give off a

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foul odor; so does a little folly to

one respected for wisdom and honor.

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A wise man's heart is at his right

hand, but a fool's heart at his left.

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Even when a fool walks along the

way, he lacks wisdom, and he shows

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every- everyone that he is a fool.

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If the spirit of the ruler rises

against you, do not leave your post, for

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conciliation pacifies great offenses.

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There is an evil I have

seen under the sun.

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As an error proceeding from the

ruler, folly is set in great dignity.

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While the rich sit in a lowly place,

I have seen servants on horses, while

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princes walk on the ground like servants.

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He who digs a pit will fall into

it, and whoever breaks through a

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wall will be bitten by a serpent.

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He who quarries stones may be

hurt by them, and he who splits

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wood may be endangered by it.

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If the ax is dull and one does not

sharpen the edge, then he must use more

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strength, but wisdom brings success.

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A serpent may bite when it is not charmed.

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The babbler is no different.

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The words of the wise man's

mouth are gracious, but the lips

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of a fool shall swallow him up.

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The words of his mouth begin

with foolishness, and the end

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of his talk is raving madness.

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A fool also multiplies words.

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No man knows what it is, what it is to be.

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Pardon me.

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Who can tell him what will be after him?

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The labor of fools wearies them, for they

do not even know how to go to the city.

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Woe to you, O land, when

your king is a child and your

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princes feast in the morning.

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Blessed are you, O land, when your

king is the son of nobles and your

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princes feast at the proper time,

for strength and not for drunkenness.

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Because of laziness, the building

decays, and through idleness

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of hands, the house leaks.

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A feast is made for laughter, and wine

makes merry, but money answers everything.

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Do not curse the king,

even in your thought.

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Do not curse the rich, even in

your bedroom, for a bird of the

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air may carry your voice, and a

bird in flight may tell the matter.

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Hmm.

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So a lot of things in chapter 10 that

resonated with current life for me.

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We shall continue.

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Chapter 11 has 10 verses.

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This is the shortest one.

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Ecclesiastes chapter 11.

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Cast your bread upon the waters, for

you will find it after many days.

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Give a serving to seven, and also

to eight, for you do not know

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what evil will be on the earth.

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If the clouds are full of rain, the

empty-- they empty themselves upon

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the earth, and if a tree falls to the

south or the north, in the place where

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the tree falls, there it shall lie.

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He who observes the wind will not sow, and

he who regards the clouds will not reap.

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As you do not know what is the way of the

wind or how the bones grow in the womb or

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her who is with child, so you do not know

the works of God who makes everything.

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In the morning, sow your seed, and in

the evening, do not withhold your hand.

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For you do not know which will

prosper, either this or that, or

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whether both alike will be good.

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Truly, the light is sweet, and it is

pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun.

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But if a man lives many years and rejoices

in them all, l- yet let him remember

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the days of darkness, for there will be

many, and all that is coming is vanity.

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Rejoice, O young man, in your

youth, and let your heart cheer

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you in the days of your youth.

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Walk in the ways of your heart

and in the sight of your eyes.

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But know that for all these, God

will bring you into judgment.

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Therefore, remove sorrow from your

heart and put away evil from the flesh,

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for childhood and youth are vanity.

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Continuing to the last chapter of

Ecclesiastes that has fourteen verses.

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Let's jump in.

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Ecclesiastes Chapter 12.

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Remember now your Creator in the days

of your youth, before the difficult

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days come and the years draw near when

you say, "I have no pleasure in them,"

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while the sun and the light, the moon

and the stars are not darkened, and the

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clouds do not return after the rain.

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In the day when the keepers of the house

tremble and the strong men bow down,

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when the grinders cease because they

are few, and those that look through

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the windows grow dim, when the doors

are shut in the streets and the sound

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of grinding is low, when one rises

up at the sound of a bird and all the

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daughters of the music are brought low.

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Also, they are afraid of heights

and of terrors in the way.

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When the almond tree blossoms, the

grasshopper is a burden, and desire fails.

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For man goes to his eternal home, and

the mourners go about the streets.

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Remember your Creator before the silver

cord is loosed or the golden bow- bowl is

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broken, or the pitcher shattered at the

fountain, or the wheel broken at the well.

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Then the dust will return to the

earth as it was, and the spirit

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will return to God who gave it.

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"Vanity of vanities," says the

Preacher, "all is vanity And moreover,

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because the preacher was wise, he

still taught the people the knowledge.

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Yes, he pondered and sought out

and set in order many proverbs.

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Hmm, many proverbs.

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The preacher sought to find

acceptable words, and what was

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written was upright, words of truth.

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The words of the wise are like goads,

and the words of scholars are like

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well-driven nails given by one shepherd.

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And further, my son, be admonished

by these, of making many books

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there is no end, and much study

is wearisome to the flesh.

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Let us hear the conclusion

of the whole matter.

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Fear God and keep his commandments,

for this is man's all.

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For God will bring every work into

judgment, including every secret

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thing, whether good or evil.

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And so, my friends, this is the

end of the reading of Ecclesiastes.

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To recap, we read chapter

eight, nine, 10, 11, and 12.

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Thank you for joining me for part one.

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I hope that you guys stay tuned for part

two as I go ahead and I decipher what

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I took from these handful of chapters

that were simple and sweet, but actually

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there was a lot of depth to all of them.

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See you back in a little bit.