Ecclesiastes 9

Death Comes to All

1 I thought about all this and concluded: the righteous, the wise, and what they do are in God’s hands, but nobody knows if love or hate awaits them.

2 Everything happens to everyone alike, the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean.

3 This the evil in all that happens: one fate hits everyone. People’s hearts full of evil, and madness fills their days, then they die.

4 Anyone alive got hope, a living dog better than a dead lion.

5 The living know they will die, but the dead know nothing, they got no reward; their memory gone.

6 Their love, hate, and envy already vanished; they will never again share what happens under the sun.

Enjoy Life While You Can

7 So go, eat your food with joy, drink your wine with a happy heart, for God already approved your works.

8 Always wear white clothes and keep oil on your head.

9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all your meaningless days under the sun, that is your portion in life.

10 Whatever your hands find to do, do it with all your might; in the grave, there is no work, planning, or wisdom.

Time and Chance Happen to All

11 I saw something else under the sun: the race not to the swift or battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise or favor to the skillful, but time and chance happen to all.

12 People do not know when their time will come; they are caught like fish in a net or birds in a trap.

The Value of Wisdom

13 I saw something else under the sun that seemed wise to me:

14 There was a small city with few people, and a great king attacked it and built siege works around it.

15 But a poor wise man saved the city with his wisdom, yet nobody remembered him.

16 So I said, “Wisdom better than strength,” but the poor man’s wisdom ignored and his words forgotten.

17 The quiet words of the wise heard better than the shouts of a ruler among fools.

18 Wisdom better than weapons of war, but one sinner can ruin much good.