Ecclesiastes 9
9
A Common Fate
1#Dt 33:3; Ecc 8:14For I considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: that the deeds of the righteous and the wise are in the hand of God. No man knows whether love or hate awaits them; both are before him. 2#Job 9:22; Mal 3:5The same fate comes to all: There is one fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the evil,#Evil from Gk. is missing in some Heb. mss. for the clean and the unclean, for him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice.
As is the good,
so is the sinner;
he who takes an oath
as he who fears an oath.
3#Ecc 1:17; 8:11And this is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that the same event happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are filled with evil, and folly is in their hearts while they have life, and after that they go to the dead. 4But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
5#Job 14:21; Isa 26:14 The living know that they will die,
but the dead know nothing;
they have no more reward,
for the memory of them is forgotten.
6What they loved, hated,
and envied has already perished;
and there is no reward for them from long ago
in everything that is done under the sun.
7#Ecc 8:15Go and eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a pleasant heart; for God is already pleased with your deeds. 8#Ps 23:5At all times may your clothing be white, and let not oil ever lack on your head. 9#Ecc 2:10; 6:12Enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun; because that is your reward in life and in your toil because you have labored under the sun. 10#Ro 12:11; Col 3:23Whatever your hands find to do, do with your strength; for there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, the place where you are going.
11#Jer 9:23; Ecc 4:1Again I saw under the sun that—
the race is not to the swift,
nor the battle to the strong,
nor food to the wise,
nor riches to the intelligent,
nor favor to those with knowledge;
but time and chance happen to them all.
12#Pr 29:6; 1Th 5:3For man does not know his time:
Like fish caught in an unfortunate net,
like birds caught in a snare,
so the sons of men are ensnared at a tragic, yet appointed time,
when it suddenly falls on them.
The Excellence of Wisdom
13I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me: 14There was a small city with a few men in it; and a great king came and surrounded it, and he built up great siege works against it. 15#Ecc 4:13But a poor, wise man was found there, and he himself in his wisdom delivered the city, but no one remembered that poor man. 16#Ecc 7:19; Pr 21:22Then I said, “Wisdom is better than strength; yet the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.”
17The words of the wise heard in quietness are better
than the shouting of a ruler among fools.
18#Jos 7:1; 7:5 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but only one sinner can destroy much that is good.
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Ecclesiastes 9: MEV
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Military Bible Association
Ecclesiastes 9
9
1I thought long and hard about all this and saw that God controls the actions of wise and righteous people, even their love and their hate. No one knows anything about what lies ahead. 2It makes no difference.#9.2 people, even their… difference; or people, but no one knows whether it is out of love or hate. 2 It makes no difference what lies ahead of us. The same fate comes to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the bad,#9.2 Some ancient translations and the bad; Hebrew does not have these words. to those who are religious and those who are not, to those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. A good person is no better off than a sinner; one who takes an oath is no better off than one who does not. 3One fate comes to all alike, and this is as wrong as anything that happens in this world. As long as people live, their minds are full of evil and madness, and suddenly they die. 4But anyone who is alive in the world of the living has some hope; a live dog is better off than a dead lion. 5Yes, the living know they are going to die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward; they are completely forgotten. 6Their loves, their hates, their passions, all died with them. They will never again take part in anything that happens in this world.
7Go ahead — eat your food and be happy; drink your wine and be cheerful. It's all right with God. 8Always look happy and cheerful. 9Enjoy life with the woman you love, as long as you live the useless life that God has given you in this world. Enjoy every useless day of it, because that is all you will get for all your trouble. 10Work hard at whatever you do, because there will be no action, no thought, no knowledge, no wisdom in the world of the dead — and that is where you are going.
11I realized another thing, that in this world fast runners do not always win the race, and the brave do not always win the battle. The wise do not always earn a living, intelligent people do not always get rich, and capable people do not always rise to high positions. Bad luck happens to everyone. 12You never know when your time is coming. Like birds suddenly caught in a trap, like fish caught in a net, we are trapped at some evil moment when we least expect it.
Thoughts on Wisdom and Foolishness
13There is something else I saw, a good example of how wisdom is regarded in this world. 14There was a little town without many people in it. A powerful king attacked it. He surrounded it and prepared to break through the walls. 15Someone lived there who was poor, but so clever that he could have saved the town. But no one thought about him.#9.15 he could have… him; or he saved the town. But later on no one remembered him. 16I have always said that wisdom is better than strength, but no one thinks of the poor as wise or pays any attention to what they say. 17It is better to listen to the quiet words of a wise person than to the shouts of a ruler at a council of fools. 18Wisdom does more good than weapons, but one sinner can undo a lot of good.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.