Ecclesiastes 9:12
Man knoweth not his own end: but as fishes are taken with the hook, and as birds are caught with the snare, so men are taken in the evil time, when it shall suddenly come upon them.
Douay-Rheims 1899
In The King James Version
In Context
13This wisdom also I have seen under the sun, and it seemed to me to be very great:
Cross References
Psalms 11:6The sinner hath provoked the Lord according to the multitude of his wrath he will not seek him:
Psalms 73:19How are they brought to desolation? they have suddenly ceased to be: they have perished by reason of their iniquity.
Proverbs 7:22Immediately he followeth her as an ox led to be a victim, and as a lamb playing the wanton, and not knowing that he is drawn like a fool to bonds,
Proverbs 29:6A snare shall entangle the wicked man when he sinneth: and the just shall praise and rejoice.
Ecclesiastes 8:8It is not in man's power to stop the spirit, neither hath he power in the day of death, neither is he suffered to rest when war is at hand, neither shall wickedness save the wicked.
Isaiah 30:13Therefore shall this iniquity be to you as a breach that falleth, and is found wanting in a high wall, for the destruction thereof shall come on a sudden, when it is not looked for.
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 9:12-13
The Disappointment of Hopes. 11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. 12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them. The preacher here, for a… Read the whole commentary →