Death Comes to All
1For I[a]considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: that the righteous and the wise and their worksare in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatredby anythingthey see before them.2All thingscome alike to all:
One eventhappens to the righteous and the wicked;
To the[b]good, the clean, and the unclean;
To him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice.
As is the good, sois the sinner;
He who takes an oath ashe who fears an oath.
3Thisis an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thinghappens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madnessis in their hearts while they live, and after thatthey 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 the dead know nothing,
And they have no more reward,
For the 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, eat 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.
9[c]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; for thatis your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.
10Whatever your hand finds to do, doit with your might; forthere is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.
11I returned and saw under the sun that—
The raceis 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 chance happen to them all.
12For man also does not know his time:
Like fish taken in a cruel net,
Like birds caught in a snare,
So the sons of menare snared in an evil time,
When it falls suddenly upon them.
Wisdom Superior to Folly
13This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and itseemed great to me:14There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great[d]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:
“Wisdomis better than strength.
Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdomis 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.
18Wisdomis better than weapons of war;
But one sinner destroys much good.”
Footnotes:
- Ecclesiastes 9:1
- Ecclesiastes 9:2
- Ecclesiastes 9:9
- Ecclesiastes 9:14
