Ecclesiastes 9
9
1 I have drawn all these things through my heart, so that I might carefully understand. There are just men as well as wise men, and their works are in the hand of God. And yet a man does not know so much as whether he is worthy of love or of hatred.
2 But all things in the future remain uncertain, because all things happen equally to the just and to the impious, to the good and to the bad, to the pure and to the impure, to those who offer sacrifices and to those who despise sacrifices. As the good are, so also are sinners. As those who commit perjury are, so also are those who swear to the truth.
3 This is a very great burden among all things that are done under the sun: that the same things happen to everyone. And when the hearts of the sons of men are filled with malice and contempt in their lives, afterwards they shall be dragged down to hell.
4 There is no one who lives forever, or who even has confidence in this regard. A living dog is better than a dead lion.
5 For the living know that they themselves will die, yet truly the dead know nothing anymore, nor do they have any recompense. For the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Likewise, love and hatred and envy have all perished together, nor have they any place in this age and in the work which is done under the sun.
7 So then, go and eat your bread with rejoicing, and drink your wine with gladness. For your works are pleasing to God.
8 Let your garments be white at all times, and let not oil be absent from your head.
9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your uncertain life which have been given to you under the sun, during all the time of your vanity. For this is your portion in life and in your labor, with which you labor under the sun.
10 Whatever your hand is able to do, do it earnestly. For neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge will exist in death, toward which you are hurrying.
11 I turned myself toward another thing, and I saw that under the sun, the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor wealth to the learned, nor grace to the skilful: but there is a time and an end for all these things.
12 Man does not know his own end. But, just as fish are caught with a hook, and birds are captured with a snare, so are men seized in the evil time, when it will suddenly overwhelm them.
13 This wisdom, likewise, I have seen under the sun, and I have examined it intensely.
14 There was a small city, with a few men in it. There came against it a great king, who surrounded it, and built fortifications all around it, and the blockade was completed.
15 And there was found within it, a poor and wise man, and he freed the city through his wisdom, and nothing was recorded afterward of that poor man.
16 And so, I declared that wisdom is better than strength. But how is it, then, that the wisdom of the poor man is treated with contempt, and his words are not heeded?
17 The words of the wise are heard in silence, more so than the outcry of a prince among the foolish.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war. And whoever offends in one thing, shall lose many good things.
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Ecclesiastes 9: CPDV
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Ecclesiastes 9
9
Enjoy Life Despite Death
1Indeed, I took all this to heart and explained it all: the righteous, the wise, and their works are in God’s hands. # Dt 33:3People don’t know whether to expect love or hate. Everything lies ahead of them. 2Everything is the same for everyone: # Jb 9:22 there is one fate for the righteous and the wicked, # Ec 2:14 for the good and the bad, # LXX, Aq, Syr, Vg; MT omits and the bad for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not sacrifice. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as for the one who takes an oath, so for the one who fears an oath. 3This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: there is one fate for everyone. In addition, the hearts of people are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live # Ec 1:17 — after that they go to the dead. 4But there is hope for whoever is joined # Alt Hb tradition reads chosen with all the living, since a live dog is better than a dead lion. 5For the living know that they will die, but the dead don’t know anything. There is no longer a reward for them because the memory of them is forgotten. # Ec 2:16 6Their love, their hate, and their envy have already disappeared, and there is no longer a portion for them in all that is done under the sun.
7Go, eat your bread with pleasure, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already accepted your works. # Ec 2:24; 3:13; 5:18; 8:15 8Let your clothes be white all the time, and never let oil be lacking on your head. # Ps 23:5 9Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of your fleeting # Or futile life, # Ec 6:12; 7:15 which has been given to you under the sun, all your fleeting days. For that is your portion in life and in your struggle # Ec 2:10 under the sun. 10Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, # Rm 12:11; Col 3:23 because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom # Ec 9:5 in Sheol where you are going.
The Limitations of Wisdom
11Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, # Am 2:14-15 or the battle to the strong, # 2Ch 20:15 or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them. 12For man certainly does not know his time: # Ec 8:7 like fish caught in a cruel net or like birds caught in a trap, # Pr 7:23 so people are trapped in an evil time # Pr 29:6 as it suddenly falls on them. # Lk 21:34-35
13I have observed that this also is wisdom under the sun, and it is significant to me: 14There was a small city with few men in it. A great king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege works against it. 15Now a poor wise man was found in the city, # Ec 4:13 and he delivered the city by his wisdom. # 2Sm 20:22 Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, # Ec 7:19 but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”
17The calm words of the wise are heeded
more than the shouts of a ruler over fools.
18Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner can destroy much good. # Jos 7:1
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