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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Ecclesiastes 9: GNBDC
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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.
Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes) 9
9
1For all this I took to heart, even to search out all this: that the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of Elohim. No man knows whether love or hatred awaits him.
2It is the same for all: One event to the righteous and to the wrong; to the good, and to the clean, and to the unclean; and to the one slaughtering and to the one not slaughtering. As is the good one, so is the sinner; the one swearing as the one fearing an oath.
3This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: there is one event to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are filled with evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and then – to the dead!
4But for him who is joined to all the living there is trust, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
5For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know naught, nor do they have any more reward, for their remembrance is forgotten.
6Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy have now perished; and they no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun.
7Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a glad heart; for Elohim has already approved your works.
8Let your garments be white at all times, and let your head lack no oil.
9See life with the wife whom you love all the days of your futile life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of futility. For that is your share in life, and in your toil which you have laboured under the sun.
10All that your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom in She’ol where you are going.
11I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the mighty, nor even bread to the wise, nor even riches to men of understanding, nor even favour to men of knowledge – for time and chance meets with them all.
12For even man does not know his time. Like fish taken in an evil net, and like birds caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it comes down on them suddenly.
13Also this I saw as wisdom under the sun, and it is great to me:
14A little city, and few men in it, and a great sovereign came against it, and besieged it, and built huge siege-works against it.
15And there was found in it a poor wise man, and by his wisdom he delivered the city, yet no one remembered that poor man.
16And I said, “Wisdom is better than might. But the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heard.”
17The words of the wise, spoken calmly, should be heard rather than the shout of a ruler of fools.
18Wisdom is better than weapons of conflict, but one sinner destroys much good.
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