Ecclesiastes 9

1 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.

For I gave my mind to all this, even to search out all this, that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God, and yet neither his love nor hatred doth any man know. All is before them.

2 [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.

All [[cometh to them]] as to all. There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the good, 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 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.

This is an evil among all things which take place under the sun, that there is one event to all; therefore also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and afterward they go down to the dead.

4 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.

For who is there that is excepted? With all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

5 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.

For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not any thing, and there is no more to them any advantage, for their memory is forgotten.

6 [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.

Their love also, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they a portion any more for ever in any thing which taketh place under the sun.

7 [So I say], be joyful [DOU] while you eat your food and drink your wine, because that is what God wants you to do.

Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a cheerful heart; for long since hath God been pleased with thy works.

8 Wear nice [MTY] clothes and make your face look nice.

Let thy garments be always white, and let not fragrant oil be wanting upon thy head.

9 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.

Enjoy life with the wife whom thou lovest, all the days of thy vain life which he hath given thee under the sun, all thy vain days. For this is thy portion in life, and in thy labor with which thou weariest thyself under the sun.

10 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)

Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might! For there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the under-world, whither thou goest. (Sheol h7585)

11 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.

I turned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor yet bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of knowledge; but time and chance happen to them all.

12 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.

For man knoweth not his time. As fishes that are taken in a destructive net, and as birds that are caught in a snare, so are the sons of men snared in a time of distress, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

13 Once I saw something that a wise man did that impressed me.

This also have I seen; even wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me.

14 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.

There was a little city, and few men within it; and a great king came against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it.

15 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.

Now there was found within it a wise poor man; and he, by his wisdom, delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

16 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.

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

17 Speaking quietly what is [very] wise is [much] more sensible than a king shouting to foolish people.

The quiet words of the wise are sooner heard than the shouting of a foolish ruler.

18 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.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war. But one offender destroyeth much good.