Ecclesiastes 9
1 I applied my heart to all this, examining it all: the righteous, the wise, and their deeds are in God’s hand. Whether it is love or hatred, no one knows; everything lies before them.
2 The same fate comes to everyone: the righteous and the wicked, the good, the pure and the impure, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. The good fares like the sinner; the one who takes an oath like the one who is afraid to swear.
3 This is the evil in all that is done under the sun: the same fate comes to everyone. The human heart is full of evil; madness fills their hearts while they live, and afterward they go to the dead.
4 For whoever is joined to the living has hope: a living dog is better than a dead lion.
5 The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because their memory has been forgotten.
6 Their love, their hatred, and their jealousy have already perished. They will never again have a share in anything done under the sun.
7 Go, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a glad heart, for God has already approved your deeds.
8 May your clothes always be white, and may your head never lack oil.
9 Enjoy life with the wife you love, all the days of your fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all the days of your fleeting life. For this is your share in life and in the work you toil at under the sun.
10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your strength, for there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol, where you are going.
11 I saw again under the sun that the race is not won by the swift, nor the battle by the strong. Bread does not belong to the wise, wealth does not belong to the intelligent, and favor does not belong to the knowledgeable. Time and chance overtake them all.
12 For no one knows their time. Like fish caught in a cruel net, and like birds caught in a snare, so people are trapped in a time of trouble when it suddenly falls upon them.
13 I also saw this wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me.
14 There was a small city with few people in it. A great king came against it, surrounded it, and raised great siegeworks against it.
15 A poor but wise man was found in it, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.
16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words go unheard.
17 The words of the wise, heard quietly, are better than the shout of a ruler among fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
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