Ecclesiastes 10
1 Dead flies will corrupt the preparation of seasoned olive oil, And a little wisdom is more valuable Than the glory of great foolishness.†
2 A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, But the heart of a senseless man is at his left.
3 When a senseless man also walks along the way, His heart will fail him, And everything he considers is foolishness.
4 If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, Do not leave your place; For soothing puts an end to great sins.†
5 There is an evil I saw under the sun When an offense proceeds from a ruler.
6 The senseless man devotes himself to great heights, And rich men shall sit in a lowly place.
7 I saw servants on horses And princes walking on the ground like servants.
8 He who digs a pit will fall into it, And he who pulls down a wall will be bitten by a serpent.
9 He who removes stones will be worn out by them, And he who cuts down trees will be endangered by them.
10 If the ax head falls off, then his countenance is troubled, And he will put forth more strength; And in that case skill is of no advantage to the man.
11 If the serpent bites when it is not charmed, Then there is no advantage to the charmer.
12 The words of a wise mouth are gracious, But the lips of a fool shall swallow him up.
13 The words of his mouth begin with foolishness, And the end of his talk is evil madness.
14 A senseless man multiplies words. No man knows what is to be; And who will tell him what will be after him?
15 The labor of fools wears them out, For they do not even know how to go to the city!†
16 Woe to you, O city whose king is young And whose princes feast in the morning!
17 Blessed are you, O land, When your king is the son of nobles And your princes feast at the proper time in strength. They will not be dishonored.
18 Because of laziness the roofing will be brought low, And through idleness of hands the house will leak.
19 They make bread for laughter, And wine delights the living; But all will listen to money.
20 Do not curse the king, even in your conscience; Do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom; For a bird of the air will carry your voice, And a bird in flight will tell the matter.
Psalms 131
1 An ode of ascents. Remember David, O Lord, And all his meekness,
2 How he swore to the Lord, How he vowed to the God of Jacob,
3 “I shall not enter my dwelling, I shall not recline on my bed,
4 I shall not close my eyes in sleep Nor my eyelids for dozing, Nor give any rest to my temples,
5 Until I find a place for the Lord, A tabernacle for the God of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah; We found it in the plains of the wood;
7 Let us enter into His tabernacles; Let us worship at the place where His feet stood.
8 Arise, O Lord, into Your rest, You and the ark of Your holiness;
9 Your priests shall clothe themselves in righteousness; Your saints shall greatly rejoice.
10 For Your servant David’s sake, Do not turn away from the face of Your anointed.
11 The Lord swore to David this truth, and He shall not reject it, “I shall set upon your throne one from the fruit of your loins.
12 If your sons keep My covenant And these testimonies I shall teach them, Then their sons shall sit upon your throne forever.”
13 For the Lord has chosen Zion; He chose her for His dwelling:
14 “This is My place of rest unto ages of ages; Here I shall dwell, for I have chosen her.
15 Blessing, I shall bless her provision; I shall satisfy her poor with bread;
16 And I shall clothe her priests with salvation, And her saints shall rejoice exceedingly with great joy;
17 There I shall cause to spring up a horn for David; There I prepared a lamp for my anointed;
18 His enemies I shall clothe with shame; Upon him shall My sanctification flourish.”
Proverbs 28
16 A hungry lion and a thirsty wolf Is he who, being poor, tyrannizes over poor people.
17 A king in need of revenues is a great oppressor, But he who hates unrighteousness shall live a long time.
18 He who becomes surety for a man charged with murder Shall be a fugitive and unsafe.
19 Instruct your son, and he shall love you; And he shall give honor to your soul, Lest he follow a lawless people.
20 He who walks righteously shall be helped, But he who walks in crooked ways shall be entangled therein.†
John 19
Pilate’s Judgment
5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”
6 Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him! ” Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.”
7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.”†
8 Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid,
9 and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
10 Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?”†
11 Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”†
12 From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”
13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”†
15 But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”
16 Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away.
Crucifixion
17 And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha,
18 where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center.
19 Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.†
20 Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
21 Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.” ’ ”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece.†
24 They said therefore among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: “They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.