Ecclesiastes 7:2 Cross References

Ecclesiastes 7:2

2: It is better to spend your time at funerals than at festivals. For you are going to die, and you should think about it while there is still time.

he added: "Take to heart all the words I have given you today. Pass them on as a command to your children so they will obey every word of this law.

Oh, that they were wise and could understand this! Oh, that they might know their fate!

Who can count Jacob's descendants, as numerous as dust? Who can count even a fourth of Israel's people? Let me die like the righteous; let my life end like theirs."

You push away every thought of coming disaster, but your actions only bring the day of judgment closer.
How terrible it will be for you who sprawl on ivory beds surrounded with luxury, eating the meat of tender lambs and choice calves.
You sing idle songs to the sound of the harp, and you fancy yourselves to be great musicians, as King David was.
You drink wine by the bowlful, and you perfume yourselves with exotic fragrances, caring nothing at all that your nation is going to ruin.

But at a birthday party for Herod, Herodias's daughter performed a dance that greatly pleased him,
so he promised with an oath to give her anything she wanted.
At her mother's urging, the girl asked, "I want the head of John the Baptist on a tray!"
The king was sorry, but because of his oath and because he didn't want to back down in front of his guests, he issued the necessary orders.
So John was beheaded in the prison,

Their future is eternal destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and all they think about is this life here on earth.

Every year when Job's sons had birthdays, they invited their brothers and sisters to join them for a celebration. On these occasions they would get together to eat and drink.
When these celebrations ended--and sometimes they lasted several days--Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, "Perhaps my children have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts." This was Job's regular practice.

One day not long after this, word came to Joseph that his father was failing rapidly. So Joseph went to visit him, and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
When Jacob heard that Joseph had arrived, he gathered his strength and sat up in bed to greet him.
Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me.
He said to me, `I will make you a multitude of nations, and I will give this land of Canaan to you and your descendants as an everlasting possession.'
Now I am adopting as my own sons these two boys of yours, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born here in the land of Egypt before I arrived. They will inherit from me just as Reuben and Simeon will.

"Come and listen, O sons of Jacob; listen to Israel, your father.
"Reuben, you are my oldest son, the child of my vigorous youth. You are first on the list in rank and honor.
But you are as unruly as the waves of the sea, and you will be first no longer. For you slept with one of my wives; you dishonored me in my own bed.
"Simeon and Levi are two of a kind--men of violence.
O my soul, stay away from them. May I never be a party to their wicked plans. For in their anger they murdered men, and they crippled oxen just for sport.

And just as it is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes judgment,

The Lord, the LORD Almighty, called you to weep and mourn. He told you to shave your heads in sorrow for your sins and to wear clothes of sackcloth to show your remorse.
But instead, you dance and play; you slaughter sacrificial animals, feast on meat, and drink wine. "Let's eat, drink, and be merry," you say. "What's the difference, for tomorrow we die."
The LORD Almighty has revealed to me that this sin will never be forgiven you until the day you die. That is the judgment of the Lord, the LORD Almighty.

You thought, `I will reign forever as queen of the world!' You did not care at all about my people or think about the consequences of your actions.

Destruction is certain for you who get up early to begin long drinking bouts that last late into the night.
You furnish lovely music and wine at your grand parties; the harps, lyres, tambourines, and flutes are superb! But you never think about the LORD or notice what he is doing.

But now that their father was dead, Joseph's brothers became afraid. "Now Joseph will pay us back for all the evil we did to him," they said.
So they sent this message to Joseph: "Before your father died, he instructed us
to say to you: `Forgive your brothers for the great evil they did to you.' So we, the servants of the God of your father, beg you to forgive us." When Joseph received the message, he broke down and wept.

And what was the result? It was not good, since now you are ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom.
But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.

You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy--their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.
Of course, your former friends are very surprised when you no longer join them in the wicked things they do, and they say evil things about you.

Listen to me and take it to heart. Honor my name," says the LORD Almighty, "or I will bring a terrible curse against you. I will curse even the blessings you receive. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you have not taken my warning seriously.

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