American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
The word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,
Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, {Or, concerning}unto thee, O Baruch:
Thou didst say, Woe is me now! for Jehovah hath added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.
Thus shalt thou say unto him, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up; and this in the whole land.
And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not; for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith Jehovah; but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.
For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ.
And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars: I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou art dead.
Be thou watchful, and establish the things that remain, which were ready to die: for I have {Many ancient authorities read not found thy works.}found no works of thine perfected before my God.
Remember therefore how thou hast received and didst hear; and keep it, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
But thou hast a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments: and they shall walk with me in white; for they are worthy.
He that overcometh shall thus be arrayed in white garments; and I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and none shall shut, and that shutteth and none openeth:
I know thy works (behold, I have {Greek: given}set before thee a door opened, which none can shut), that thou hast a little power, and didst keep my word, and didst not deny my name.
Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of them that say they are Jews, and they are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and {The Greek word denotes an act of reverence, whether paid to a creature, or to the Creator.}worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Because thou didst keep the word of my {Or, stedfastness}patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of {Or, temptation}trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole {Greek: inhabited earth.}world, to {Or, tempt}try them that dwell upon the earth.
I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown.
He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the {Or, sanctuary}temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and mine own new name.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God:
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth.
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and poor and blind and naked:
I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich; and white garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself, and that the shame of thy nakedness be not made manifest; and eyesalve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see.
As many as I love, I reprove and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth; {Or, and thou shall enjoy}therefore enjoy {Or, good}pleasure: and, behold, this also was vanity.
I said of laughter, It is mad; and of mirth, What doeth it?
I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my heart yet {Or, holding its course}guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under heaven {Hebrew: the number of days of their life.}all the days of their life.
I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards;
I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit;
I made me pools of water, to water therefrom the forest where trees were reared;
I bought men-servants and maid-servants, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all that were before me in Jerusalem;
I gathered me also silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I gat me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of men, {Or, concubines very many The meaning of the Hebrew is very uncertain.}musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom {Or, stood by me}remained with me.
And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them; I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor; and this was my portion from all my labor.
Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.
And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh {Or, after the king, even him whom they made king long ago? Or, after the king in those things which have been already done?}after the king? even that which hath been done long ago.
Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walketh in darkness: and yet I perceived that one event happeneth to them all.
Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then said I in my heart, that this also is vanity.
For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no remembrance for ever; seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. And how doth the wise man die even as the fool!
So I hated life, because the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind.
And I hated all my labor wherein I labored under the sun, seeing that I must leave it unto the man that shall be after me.
And who knoweth whether he will be a wise man or a fool? yet will he have rule over all my labor wherein I have labored, and wherein I have showed myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
Therefore I turned about to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor wherein I had labored under the sun.
For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with {Or, success}skilfulness; yet to a man that hath not labored therein shall he {Hebrew: give.}leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
For what hath a man of all his labor, and of the {Or, vexation}striving of his heart, wherein he laboreth under the sun?
For all his days are but sorrows, and his travail is grief; yea, even in the night his heart taketh no rest. This also is vanity.
There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.
For who can eat, or who can {Or, hasten thereto}have enjoyment, {According to Septuagint Version and Syraic. apart from him.}more than I?
For to the man that pleaseth him God giveth wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that pleaseth God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Now is {Or, a judgement}the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
For what the law could not do, {Greek: wherein.}in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of {Greek: flesh of sin.}sinful flesh {Or, and as an offering for sin Leviticus 7:37 & c. Hebrews 10:6 & c. }and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
If then ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors: yet he bare the sin of many, and {Or, maketh}made intercession for the transgressors.
Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the life eternal, whereunto thou wast called, and didst confess the good confession in the sight of many witnesses.