Today is the fourth day of September. Welcome to the daily audio Bible. I am

Brian. It is fantastic to be here with you today as we dive into this week and

move forward together another step as we continue our voyage through the Bible

this year. We have wound our way into some wisdom literature in the Old Testament

and that's where we are right now and so we've worked our way through the

book of Job and are now in the book of Ecclesiastes which looking at it in

terms of wisdom literature we could be like well this just sounds like a very

depressed guy who got to do a lot of things and found it all meaningless. There's

wisdom in that though big big wisdom in hearing from the voice of a person who

has been able to do whatever they want whenever they want pretty much with

whomever they want and these are some of the conclusions. So let's continue

that journey today Ecclesiastes 7, 8 and 9. A good reputation is more

valuable than costly perfume and the day you die is better than the day you are

born. Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all everyone

dies so the living should take this to heart sorrow is better than laughter for

sadness has a refining influence on us. A wise person thinks a lot about death

while a fool thinks only about having a good time. Better to be criticized by a

wise person than to be praised by a fool. A fool's laughter is quickly gone like

thorns crackling in a fire. This also is meaningless. Extortion turns wise people

into fools and bribes corrupt the heart. Finishing is better than starting. Patience is

better than pride. Control your temper for anger labels you of fool. Don't long

for the good old days. This is not wise. Wisdom is even better when you have money. Both

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