Ecclesiastes 9:1-18

Death Comes to All

¹ For I ₁ considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: _a that 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 _b All things come alike to all:
One event happens to the righteous and the wicked;
To the ₂ 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. ³ This 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. ⁴ But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. ⁵ For the living know that they will die;
But _c the dead know nothing,
And they have no more reward,
For _d the memory of them is forgotten. ⁶ Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished;
Nevermore will they have a share
In anything done under the sun.

Enjoy Life with the One You Love

⁷ Go, _e eat your bread with joy,
And drink your wine with a merry heart;
For God has already accepted your works.

⁸ Let your garments always be white,
And let your head lack no oil.

⁹ ₃ Live 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; _f for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun. ¹⁰ _g Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your _h might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

Wisdom Better than Folly

¹¹ I returned _i and 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 _j chance happen to them all. ¹² For _k man 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 _l snared in an evil time,
When it falls suddenly upon them.

¹³ This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me: ¹⁴ _m There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great ₄ snares around it. ¹⁵ Now 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. ¹⁶ Then I said:
"Wisdom is better than _n strength.
Nevertheless _o the poor man's wisdom is despised,
And his words are not heard.

¹⁷ Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard
Rather than the shout of a ruler of fools. ¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war;
But _p one sinner destroys much good."