Ecclesiastes 9

Mankind Is in the Hand of God

For I have given all this to my heart and explain ¹it that righteous men, wise men, and their service are ^ain the hand of God. ^bMan does not know whether it will be ^clove or hatred; anything may be before him.
2 ^aIt is the same for all. There is ^bone fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who ¹is afraid to swear. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is ^aone fate for all. Furthermore, ^bthe hearts of the sons of men are full of evil, and ^cmadness is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead. 4 For whoever is joined with all the living, there is confidence; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know they will die; but the dead ^ado not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for the ^bmemory of them is forgotten. 6 Indeed their love, their hate, and their zeal have already perished, and they will never again have a ^aportion in all that is done under the sun.
7 Go then, ^aeat your bread in gladness and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works. 8 Let your ^aclothes be white all the time, and let not ^boil be lacking on your head. 9 See life with the woman whom you love all the days of your ^avain life, which He has given to you under the sun—all the days of your ^avanity; for this is your ^bportion in life and in your labor in which you have labored under the sun.

Whatever Your Hand Finds to Do

10 Whatever your hand finds to do, ^ado it with all your might; for there is no ^bworking or explaining or knowledge or wisdom in ^cSheol where you are going.
11 I again saw under the sun that the ^arace is not to the swift and the ^bbattle is not to the mighty, and neither is bread to the wise nor ^criches to the discerning nor favor to men who know; for time and ^dmisfortune overtake them all. 12 Moreover, man does not ^aknow his time: like fish seized in an evil net and ^bbirds seized in a trap, so the sons of men are ^censnared at an evil time when it ^dsuddenly falls on them.
13 Also this I came to see as wisdom under the sun, and ¹it was great to me. 14 There ^awas a small city with few men in it, and a great king came to it, surrounded it, and built large siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a ^apoor wise man, and he provided a way of escape for the city ^bby his wisdom. Yet ^cno one remembered that poor man. 16 So I said, “^aWisdom is better than strength.” But the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heard. 17 The ^awords of the wise heard in restfulness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 ^aWisdom is better than weapons of war, but ^bone sinner destroys much good.

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