THE STORYTELLER'S BIBLE
Act III- Wisdom Literature, Scene 7
Script by Bob Allen
For four voices

Scene 7

1 2 3

4

VOICE FOUR:            An entire book of wisdom, written as an instruction book for life by a father to his son.

VOICE ONE:              A son, who no doubt read the book, and then said to himself, “I’ll do as father did, not as he said.”

VOICE TWO:             Do as father did.  Even though he came to the conclusion that everything he tried led to emptiness and the conclusion of the whole matter was to “Fear God and keep His commandments.”

VOICE THREE:          Solomon took the trip recorded in the book of Ecclesiastes and arrived at the conclusion he should have known from the beginning. 

VOICE FOUR:            Rehoboam took the trip recorded in the book of Ecclesiastes and never arrived at its conclusion. 

VOICE ONE:              We can profit from both of their examples.

VOICE TWO:             The good life.  The road to happiness.  Nirvana.  Tranquility.  Paradise.  Ecstasy.  “For who knoweth what is good for man in this life?”

VOICE THREE:          Solomon knew!  The answer’s were obvious, common knowledge, and he had the finances and the opportunity available to prove that common knowledge true.

VOICE FOUR:            Pleasure!  Laughter!  Wine!  Surely happiness lies in the pursuit of an endless round of parties in the company of witty companions and never-ending gourmet delicacies to satisfy the palate. 

VOICE ONE:              Vanity!  Emptiness!  Endless mirth leads to murky madness.

VOICE TWO:             Wisdom!  Study!  Education!  I would be completely satisfied just to sit in an overstuffed chair within easy reach of an infinite supply of books from the great writers of the ages. 

VOICE ONE:              Vanity!  Emptiness!  Much study is simply a weariness to the flesh and to know the wisdom of mankind is to know madness and folly.

VOICE THREE:          Riches!  Houses!  Gardens!  Servants!  Every possession desired by the heart would surely bring delight to the mind.  There would be satisfaction in never having to say you were satisfied.

VOICE ONE:              Vanity!  Emptiness!  Vexation of spirit!  Even in the midst of plenty the days of a man are sorrow and his travail grief.  His heart takes no rest in the night.

VOICE THREE:          Laughter is better than tears, and yet there is a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

VOICE TWO:             Wisdom is better than folly, and yet no one remembers the wise any longer than they do the fool.

VOICE FOUR:            Riches are better than poverty, and yet I hated all my labor because I should leave it to the man that shall be after me, and who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool?

VOICE THREE:          Rehoboam!

VOICE ONE:              Yet shall he have rule over all my labor wherein I have labored, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun.  This is also vanity.

VOICE FOUR:            Rehoboam—remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth!

VOICE TWO:             And further by these, my son, be admonished.

VOICE THREE:          Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

VOICE ONE:              Rehoboam—fear God!

VOICE FOUR:            Rehoboam—keep His commandments.

VOICE TWO:             Rehoboam—this is the whole duty of man.

ALL:                            For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

VOICE FOUR:            And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?