Ecclesiastes 9

Death Comes to All

1But all this
I laid to heart,
examining it all,
how the righteous
and the wise
and their deeds
are in the hand
of God.
Whether it is
love or hate,
man does not know;
both are before him.

2It is
the same
for all,
since the same event
happens to the righteous and
the wicked,
to the good
and the evil,^[a]
to the clean and
the unclean,
to him who sacrifices
and him
who does not sacrifice.
As is the good,
so is the sinner,
and he who swears
is as he who
shuns an oath.

3This is
an evil
in all that
is done
under the sun,
that the same event
happens to all.
Also,
the hearts
of the children
of man are full
of evil,
and madness
is in their hearts
while they live,
and after that
they go to the dead.

4But he who
is joined
with all the living
has 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.

6Their love and
their hate and
their envy
have already perished, and
forever they have
no more share
in all
that is done
under the sun.

Enjoy Life with the One You Love

7Go,
eat your bread
in joy, and
drink your wine
with a merry heart,
for God
has already approved
what you do.

8Let your garments
be always white.
Let not oil
be lacking
on your head.

9Enjoy life
with the wife
whom you love,
all the days
of your vain life
that he has given you
under the sun,
because that is
your portion in life and
in your toil
at which you toil
under the sun.

10Whatever your hand finds
to do,
do it
with your might,^[b]
for there is
no work or thought
or knowledge
or wisdom in Sheol,
to which
you are going.

Wisdom Better than Folly

11Again
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 riches
to the intelligent,
nor favor
to those
with knowledge,
but time and chance happen
to them all.

12For man
does not
know his time.
Like fish
that are taken
in an evil net,
and like birds
that are caught
in a snare,
so the children
of man
are snared
at an evil time,
when it suddenly falls
upon them.

13I have
also seen
this example
of wisdom
under the sun, and
it seemed great
to me.

14There was
a little city
with few men
in it,
and a great king
came against it and
besieged it,
building great siegeworks
against it.

15But there was
found in it
a poor,
wise man, and
he by his wisdom
delivered the city.
Yet no one
remembered
that poor man.

16But I say
that wisdom
is better
than might,
though the poor man's wisdom
is despised
and his words
are not

17The words
of the wise
heard in quiet
are better than
the shouting
of a ruler
among fools.

18Wisdom
is better
than weapons
of war,
but one sinner
destroys much good.