So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? ¹  And what advantage ²  does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive? ³ 

Whoever obeys his ¹  command will not experience harm, and a wise person ²  knows the proper time ³  and procedure.

He goes to sleep and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.

That ¹  servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or do what his master asked ²  will receive a severe beating.

But we know where this man ¹  comes from. ²  Whenever the Christ ³  comes, no one will know where he comes from.” ⁴ 

The ¹  whole imperial guard ²  and everyone else knows ³  that I am in prison ⁴  for the sake of Christ,

For we never appeared ¹  with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed – God is our witness –

All along the way I, the Lord your God, ¹  have blessed your every effort. ²  I have ³  been attentive to ⁴  your travels through this great wasteland. These forty years I have ⁵  been with you; you have lacked for nothing.’”

So now order some cedars of Lebanon to be cut for me. My servants will work with your servants. I will pay your servants whatever you say is appropriate, for you know that we have no one among us who knows how to cut down trees like the Sidonians.”

Do you listen in on God’s secret council? ¹  Do you limit ²  wisdom to yourself?

Distress and anguish ¹  terrify him; they prevail against him like a king ready to launch an attack, ² 

My kinsmen have failed me; my friends ¹  have forgotten me. ² 

let him ¹  weigh me with honest ²  scales; then God will discover ³  my integrity.

The spiritually insensitive do not recognize this; the fool does not understand this. ¹ 

So I reflected on all this, ¹  attempting to clear ²  it all up. I concluded that ³  the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God; whether a person will be loved or hated ⁴  – no one knows what lies ahead. ⁵ 

His God instructs him; he teaches him the principles of agriculture. ¹ 

This will happen to them because they have done what is shameful ¹  in Israel. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken lies while claiming my authority. ²  They have spoken words that I did not command them to speak. I know what they have done. I have been a witness to it,’ says the Lord.” ³ 

But this rabble ¹  who do not know the law are accursed!”

there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God.

For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? ¹