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.
Ecclesiastes 9
9
1For I considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: #Deut. 33:3; Job 12:10; Eccl. 8:14that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them. 2#Gen. 3:17–19; Job 21:7; Ps. 73:3, 12, 13; Mal. 3:15All things come alike to all:
One event happens to the righteous and the wicked;
To the good, the clean, and the unclean;
To 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.
3This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, 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.
5For the living know that they will die;
But #Job 14:21; Is. 63:16the dead know nothing,
And they have no more reward,
For #Job 7:8–10; Eccl. 1:11; 2:16; 8:10; Is. 26:14the memory of them is forgotten.
6Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished;
Nevermore will they have a share
In anything done under the sun.
7Go, #Eccl. 8:15eat your bread with joy,
And drink your wine with a merry heart;
For God has already accepted your works.
8Let your garments always be white,
And let your head lack no oil.
9Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; #Eccl. 2:10for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.
10#(Col. 3:17)Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your #Rom. 12:11; Col. 3:23might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.
11I returned #Jer. 9:23; Amos 2:14, 15and saw under the sun that—
The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time and #1 Sam. 6:9chance happen to them all.
12For #Eccl. 8:7man also does not know his time:
Like fish taken in a cruel net,
Like birds caught in a snare,
So the sons of men are #Prov. 29:6; Luke 12:20, 39; 17:26; 1 Thess. 5:3snared in an evil time,
When it falls suddenly upon them.
Wisdom Superior to Folly
13This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me: 14#2 Sam. 20:16–22There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great snares around it. 15Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man.
16Then I said:
“Wisdom is better than #Eccl. 7:12, 19strength.
Nevertheless #Mark 6:2, 3the poor man’s wisdom is despised,
And his words are not heard.
17Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard
Rather than the shout of a ruler of fools.
18Wisdom is better than weapons of war;
But #Josh. 7:1–26; 2 Kin. 21:2–17one sinner destroys much good.”
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.