Ecclesiastes 9
1 For all this I laid to my heart, even to make clear all this: that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; whether it be love or hatred, man knoweth it not; all is before them.
I thought about all those things, and I concluded that God controls [what happens to] everyone, even those who are wise and those who are righteous. No one knows whether [others] will love them or whether they will hate them.
2 All things come alike to all; there is 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, and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
[But we know that some time in the future] we will all die; it does not matter whether we act righteously or wickedly, whether we are good or whether we are bad, whether we are acceptable for [worshiping God] or whether [we have done things to cause us to be] unacceptable; it does not matter if we offer sacrifices [to God] or if we do not; it does not matter if we do what we have promised God that we will do or if we do not; [we all die]. The same thing will happen to good people and to sinful people, to those who solemnly promise [to do things for God] and to those who are afraid to make such promises.
3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event unto all; yea also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
It seems wrong that the same thing happens to everyone on this earth: Everyone dies [EUP]. Furthermore, people’s inner beings are full of evil. People do foolish things while they are alive, and then they die and join those who are already dead.
4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
While we are alive, we confidently expect [that good things will happen to us]. [We despise] dogs, but it is better to be a dog that is alive than to be a [majestic] lion that is dead.
5 For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
We who are alive know that [some day] we will die, but dead people do not know anything. Dead people do not receive any more rewards, and people soon forget them.
6 As well their love, as their hatred and their envy, is long ago perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
[While they were alive], they loved [some people], they hated [some people], they envied [some people], but that all ends when they die. They will never again be a part of anything that happens here on the earth.
7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God hath already accepted thy works.
[So I say], be joyful [DOU] while you eat your food and drink your wine, because that is what God wants you to do.
8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no oil.
Wear nice [MTY] clothes and make your face look nice.
9 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 labourest under the sun.
Enjoy living with your wife whom you love, all during the time that God has given to you to be alive here on this earth. And even though it is difficult to understand why many things happen, enjoy doing the work that you do here on this earth.
10 Whatsoever thy hand attaineth to do by thy strength, that do; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. (Sheol h7585)
Whatever you are able to do, do it with all your energy, because [some time you will die], and in the place of the dead where you are going, no one works or plans to do anything or knows anything or is wise. (Sheol h7585)
11 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 men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
I have seen something else here on the earth: The person who runs fastest does not [always] win the race, the strongest soldiers do not [always] win the battle, the wisest people do not [always] have food, the smartest people do not [always] become rich, and people who have studied a lot are not [always] (honored/treated very specially) by others; we cannot [always] control what things will happen to us and where they will happen.
12 For man also knoweth not his time; as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
No one knows when he will die [EUP]; fish are cruelly caught in a net, and birds are caught in snares/traps; similarly [SIM], people experience disasters at times when they do not expect them to happen.
13 This also have I seen as wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:
Once I saw something that a wise man did that impressed me.
14 there was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it;
There was a small town, where only a few people lived. The army of a great king came to that town and surrounded it. They built dirt ramps up against the walls in order to climb up and attack the town.
15 now there was found in it a man poor and wise, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
In that town there was a man who was poor but very wise. Because of doing what that man [suggested], the town was saved; but people [soon] forgot about him.
16 Then said I: 'Wisdom is better than strength; nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.'
So I realized that although being wise is better than being strong, if you are poor, no one will appreciate what you do, and people will soon forget what you said.
17 The words of the wise spoken in quiet are more acceptable than the cry of a ruler among fools.
Speaking quietly what is [very] wise is [much] more sensible than a king shouting to foolish people.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroyeth much good.
Being wise is more useful than [a lot of] weapons; but if you do one foolish thing, [it is possible that] because of doing that, you will ruin all the good things that you have done.
