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Speaker 1: Life Audio. For more resources to help you in your

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Speaker 1: walk with Christ, please visit us at BibleStudyHeadquarters.com. You're listening

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Speaker 1: to the Chapter a Day Audio Bible. I'm John Stonge

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Speaker 1: and today we're in Ecclesiastes chapter 2 and we'll be

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Speaker 1: reading from the New English Translation. I thought to myself,

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Speaker 1: come now, I will try self-indulgent pleasure to see if

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Speaker 1: it is worthwhile. But I found that it also is futile.

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Speaker 1: I said of partying, it is folly, and of self-indulgent pleasure,

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Speaker 1: it accomplishes nothing. I thought deeply about the effects of

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Speaker 1: indulging myself with wine. All the while, my mind was

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Speaker 1: guiding me with wisdom and the effects of behaving foolishly.

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Speaker 1: so that I might discover what is profitable for people

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Speaker 1: to do on earth during the few days of their lives.

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Speaker 1: I increased my possessions. I built houses for myself. I

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Speaker 1: planted vineyards for myself. I designed royal gardens and parks

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Speaker 1: for myself. And I planted all kinds of fruit trees

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Speaker 1: in them. I constructed pools of water for myself to

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Speaker 1: irrigate my grove of flourishing trees. I purchased male and

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Speaker 1: female slaves, and I owned slaves who were born in

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Speaker 1: my house. I also possessed more livestock, both herds and flocks,

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Speaker 1: than any of my predecessors in Jerusalem. I also amassed

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Speaker 1: silver and gold for myself, as well as valuable treasures

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Speaker 1: taken from kingdoms and provinces. I acquired male singers and

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Speaker 1: female singers for myself, and what gives a man sensual

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Speaker 1: delight a harem of beautiful concubines. So I was far

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Speaker 1: wealthier than all my predecessors in Jerusalem. Yet I maintained

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Speaker 1: my objectivity. I did not restrain myself from getting whatever

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Speaker 1: I wanted. I did not deny myself anything that would

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Speaker 1: bring me pleasure. So all my accomplishments gave me joy.

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Speaker 1: This was my reward for all my effort. Yet when

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Speaker 1: I reflected on everything I had accomplished... And on all

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Speaker 1: the effort that I had expended to accomplish it, I concluded,

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Speaker 1: all these achievements and possessions are ultimately profitless. Like chasing

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Speaker 1: the wind, there is nothing gained from them on earth. Next,

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Speaker 1: I decided to consider wisdom as well as foolish behavior

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Speaker 1: and ideas. For what more can the king's successor do

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Speaker 1: than what the king has already done? I realized that

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Speaker 1: wisdom is preferable to folly. just as light is preferable

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Speaker 1: to darkness. The wise man can see where he is going,

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Speaker 1: but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also realized

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Speaker 1: that the same fate happens to them both. So I

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Speaker 1: thought to myself, the fate of the fool will happen

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Speaker 1: even to me. Then what did I gain by becoming

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Speaker 1: so excessively wise? So I lamented to myself, the benefits

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Speaker 1: of wisdom are ultimately meaningless. For the wise man, like

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Speaker 1: the fool, will not be remembered for very long, because

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Speaker 1: in the days to come, both will already have been forgotten. Alas,

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Speaker 1: the wise man dies just like the fool. So I

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Speaker 1: loathed life, because what happens on earth seems awful to me,

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Speaker 1: for all the benefits of wisdom are futile, like chasing

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Speaker 1: the wind. So I loathed all the fruit of my efforts,

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Speaker 1: for which I worked so hard on earth, because I

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Speaker 1: must leave it behind in the hands of my successor.

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Speaker 1: Who knows if he will be a wise man or

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Speaker 1: a fool? Yet he will be master over all the

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Speaker 1: fruit of my labor, for which I worked so wisely

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Speaker 1: on earth. This also is futile. So I began to

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Speaker 1: despair about all the fruit of my labor, for which

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Speaker 1: I worked so hard on earth. For a man may

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Speaker 1: do his work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, However, he

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Speaker 1: must hand over the fruit of his labor as an

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Speaker 1: inheritance to someone else who did not work for it.

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Speaker 1: This also is futile and an awful injustice. What does

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Speaker 1: a man acquire from all his labor and from the

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Speaker 1: anxiety that accompanies his toil on earth? For all day

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Speaker 1: long his work produces pain and frustration, and even at

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Speaker 1: night his mind cannot relax. This also is futile. There

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Speaker 1: is nothing better for people than to eat and drink

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Speaker 1: and to find enjoyment in their work. I also perceive

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Speaker 1: that this ability to find enjoyment comes from God. For

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Speaker 1: no one can eat and drink or experience joy apart

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Speaker 1: from Him. For to the one who pleases Him, God

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Speaker 1: gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy. But to the sinner, He

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Speaker 1: gives the task of amassing wealth only to give it

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Speaker 1: to the one who pleases God. This task of the

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Speaker 1: wicked is futile, like chasing the wind. Let's pray. Lord,

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Speaker 1: we thank you for your word, and we thank you

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Speaker 1: for the privilege of being able to read it together today.

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Speaker 1: And Lord, again, as we look at this portion of Scripture,

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Speaker 1: we can see that chasing after the things of this world,

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Speaker 1: whether it be amassing wealth or indulging in earthly pleasures,

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Speaker 1: it amounts to nothing. It's not what you invite us

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Speaker 1: to ultimately pursue. Lord, you invite us to find ultimate

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Speaker 1: joy through faith in your Son, Jesus Christ. And through Jesus,

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Speaker 1: we're granted wisdom, we're granted hope, we're granted the ability, Lord,

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Speaker 1: to delight in who you are all the days of

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Speaker 1: our lives, even as we look forward to the future,

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Speaker 1: knowing that you've got our futures secured in your hand. So, Lord,

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Speaker 1: we're grateful for this, and we're grateful for the reminders

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Speaker 1: that you give to us through your word. We love you, Lord.

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Speaker 1: We commit ourselves to you today, and we pray this

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Speaker 1: all in Jesus' name. Amen.