Psalm 104:24–35

²⁴O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
²⁵Here is the sea, great and wide,
which teems with creatures innumerable,
living things both small and great.
²⁶There go the ships,
and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.
²⁷These all look to you,
to give them their food in due season.
²⁸When you give it to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
²⁹When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
when you take away their breath, they die
and return to their dust.
³⁰When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
³¹May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works,
³²who looks on the earth and it trembles,
who touches the mountains and they smoke!
³³I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
³⁴May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the Lord.
³⁵Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
and let the wicked be no more!
Bless the Lord, O my soul! Praise the Lord!

Old Testament Reading Ecclesiastes 6:1—7:10

¹There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: ²a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil. ³If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. ⁴For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. ⁵Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. ⁶Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good—do not all go to the one place?

⁷All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. ⁸For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living? ⁹Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

¹⁰Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he. ¹¹The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man? ¹²For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?

¹A good name is better than precious ointment,
and the day of death than the day of birth.
²It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting,
for this is the end of all mankind,
and the living will lay it to heart.
³Sorrow is better than laughter,
for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
⁴The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
⁵It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
than to hear the song of fools.
⁶For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of the fools;
this also is vanity.
⁷Surely oppression drives the wise into madness,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.
⁸Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
⁹Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,
for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.
¹⁰Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

New Testament Reading John 8:21–38

²¹So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” ²²So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” ²³He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. ²⁴I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” ²⁵So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. ²⁶I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” ²⁷They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. ²⁸So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. ²⁹And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” ³⁰As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

³¹So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ³³They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. ³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. ³⁸I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”