Bible Reading Plan

Read the Bible in two years

Sunday, January 11, 2026

Ecclesiastes 11:9–10 (Listen)

Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

10 Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain1 from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

Footnotes

[1] 11:10 Or evil

Ecclesiastes 12:1–8 (Listen)

Remember Your Creator in Your Youth

12:1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low—they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,1 and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets—before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Vanity2 of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

Footnotes

[1] 12:5 Or is a burden
[2] 12:8 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (three times in this verse); see note on 1:2

Psalm 140 (Listen)

Deliver Me, O Lord, from Evil Men

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

140:1   Deliver me, O LORD, from evil men;
    preserve me from violent men,
  who plan evil things in their heart
    and stir up wars continually.
  They make their tongue sharp as a serpent’s,
    and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah
  Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked;
    preserve me from violent men,
    who have planned to trip up my feet.
  The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,
    and with cords they have spread a net;1
    beside the way they have set snares for me. Selah
  I say to the LORD, You are my God;
    give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O LORD!
  O LORD, my Lord, the strength of my salvation,
    you have covered my head in the day of battle.
  Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked;
    do not further their2 evil plot, or they will be exalted! Selah
  As for the head of those who surround me,
    let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!
10   Let burning coals fall upon them!
    Let them be cast into fire,
    into miry pits, no more to rise!
11   Let not the slanderer be established in the land;
    let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!
12   I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted,
    and will execute justice for the needy.
13   Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;
    the upright shall dwell in your presence.

Footnotes

[1] 140:5 Or they have spread cords as a net
[2] 140:8 Hebrew his

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. You may not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

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