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.

For all this I laid to my heart and [indeed] to investigate all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; man knoweth neither love nor hatred: all is before them.

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.

All things [come] alike to all: one event to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good, and to the clean, and to the unclean, to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

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 an evil among all that is done under the sun, that one thing befalleth all: yea, also the heart of the children of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live; and after that, [they have to go] to the dead.

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

For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope; for 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 shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward, 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.

Their love also, and their hatred, and their envy is already perished; neither have they any more for ever a portion in all that 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:

Go, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God hath already accepted thy works.

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

Let thy garments be always white, and let not thy head lack oil.

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 thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity; for that is thy portion in life, and in thy labour wherein thou art labouring 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 thy hand findeth to do, do with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, whither thou goest. (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 returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to the intelligent, nor yet favour to men of knowledge; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

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.

For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are taken with the snare, like them are the children of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

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

This also have I seen as wisdom under the sun, and it was great unto me.

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 little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and encompassed it, and built great bulwarks against it:

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 in it a poor wise man, who by his wisdom delivered the city; but no man remembered 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.”

Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength; but the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

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 quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

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

Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroyeth much good.