Ecclesiastes 9

1 So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate.

I have drawn all these things through my heart, so that I might carefully understand. There are just men as well as wise men, and their works are in the hand of God. And yet a man does not know so much as whether he is worthy of love or of hatred.

2 It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.

But all things in the future remain uncertain, because all things happen equally to the just and to the impious, to the good and to the bad, to the pure and to the impure, to those who offer sacrifices and to those who despise sacrifices. As the good are, so also are sinners. As those who commit perjury are, so also are those who swear to the truth.

3 This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.

This is a very great burden among all things that are done under the sun: that the same things happen to everyone. And when the hearts of the sons of men are filled with malice and contempt in their lives, afterwards they shall be dragged down to hell. (questioned)

4 There is hope, however, for anyone who is among the living; for even a live dog is better than a dead lion.

There is no one who lives forever, or who even has confidence in this regard. A living dog is better than a dead lion.

5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.

For the living know that they themselves will die, yet truly the dead know nothing anymore, nor do they have any recompense. For the memory of them is forgotten.

6 Their love, their hate, and their envy have already vanished, and they will never again have a share in all that is done under the sun.

Likewise, love and hatred and envy have all perished together, nor have they any place in this age and in the work which is done under the sun.

7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:

So then, go and eat your bread with rejoicing, and drink your wine with gladness. For your works are pleasing to God.

8 Let your garments always be white, and never spare the oil for your head.

Let your garments be white at all times, and let not oil be absent from your head.

9 Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun.

Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your uncertain life which have been given to you under the sun, during all the time of your vanity. For this is your portion in life and in your labor, with which you labor under the sun.

10 Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom. (Sheol h7585)

Whatever your hand is able to do, do it earnestly. For neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge will exist in death, toward which you are hurrying. (Sheol h7585)

11 I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all.

I turned myself toward another thing, and I saw that under the sun, the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor wealth to the learned, nor grace to the skillful: but there is a time and an end for all these things.

12 For surely no man knows his time: Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, so men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them.

Man does not know his own end. But, just as fish are caught with a hook, and birds are captured with a snare, so are men seized in the evil time, when it will suddenly overwhelm them.

13 I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me:

This wisdom, likewise, I have seen under the sun, and I have examined it intensely.

14 There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it.

There was a small city, with a few men in it. There came against it a great king, who surrounded it, and built fortifications all around it, and the blockade was completed.

15 Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

And there was found within it, a poor and wise man, and he freed the city through his wisdom, and nothing was recorded afterward of that poor man.

16 And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”

And so, I declared that wisdom is better than strength. But how is it, then, that the wisdom of the poor man is treated with contempt, and his words are not heeded?

17 The calm words of the wise are heeded over the shouts of a ruler among fools.

The words of the wise are heard in silence, more so than the outcry of a prince among the foolish.

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war. And whoever offends in one thing, shall lose many good things.