John 1:29-34

New International Version

John Testifies About Jesus

²⁹The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God,^(A) who takes away the sin of the world!^(B) ³⁰This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’^(C) ³¹I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

³²Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.^(D) ³³And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water^(E) told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’^(F) ³⁴I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”^[a]^(G)

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Footnotes

John 1:34 See Isaiah 42:1; many manuscripts is the Son of God.

Ecclesiastes 2:17-26

New International Version

Toil Is Meaningless

¹⁷So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.^(A) ¹⁸I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.^(B) ¹⁹And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish?^(C) Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. ²⁰So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. ²¹For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. ²²What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?^(D) ²³All their days their work is grief and pain;^(E) even at night their minds do not rest.^(F) This too is meaningless.

²⁴A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink^(G) and find satisfaction in their own toil.^(H) This too, I see, is from the hand of God,^(I) ²⁵for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?^(J) ²⁶To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom,^(K) knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth^(L) to hand it over to the one who pleases God.^(M) This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.