| New International Version (NIV) |
New International Version (NIV) |
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23 All this I tested by wisdom and I said, "I am determined to be wise"-- but this was beyond me.
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23 All this I tested by wisdom and I said, "I am determined to be wise"-- but this was beyond me.
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24 Whatever wisdom may be, it is far off and most profound-- who can discover it?
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24 Whatever wisdom may be, it is far off and most profound-- who can discover it?
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25 So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.
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25 So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.
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26 I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.
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26 I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.
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27 "Look," says the Teacher, "this is what I have discovered: "Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things--
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27 "Look," says the Teacher, "this is what I have discovered: "Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things--
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28 while I was still searching but not finding-- I found one [upright] man among a thousand, but not one [upright] woman among them all.
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28 while I was still searching but not finding-- I found one [upright] man among a thousand, but not one [upright] woman among them all.
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29 This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes."
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29 This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes."
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| Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |
