Ecclesiastes 9
1I saw that the righteous, and the wise, 1 And their works, are in the hand of God: 1 Yea, there is no man that knows either love or hatred, 1 Though all are before their face. 1
2Vanity is in all: 1 There is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; 1 To the good, and to the bad; 1 Both to the pure, and to the impure; 1 Both to him that sacrifices, and to him that sacrifices not: 1 As is the good, so is the sinner: 1 As is the swearer, even so is he that fears an oath. 1
3There is this evil in all that is done under the sun, 1 That there is one event to all: 1 Yea, the heart of the sons of men is filled with evil, 1 And madness is in their heart during their life, 1 And after that they go to the dead. 1
4For who is he that has fellowship with all the living? 1 There is hope of him: 1 For a living dog is better than a dead lion. 1
5For the living will know that they shall die: 1 But the dead know nothing, 1 And there is no longer any reward to them; 1 For their memory is lost. 1
6Also their love, and their hatred, 1 And their envy, have now perished; 1 Yea, there is no portion for them anymore forever 1 In all that is done under the sun. 1
7Go, eat thy bread with mirth, 1 And drink thy wine with a joyful heart; 1 For now God has favorably accepted thy works. 1
8Let thy garments be always white; 1 And let not oil be wanting on thy head. 1
9And see life with the wife whom thou lovest 1 All the days of the life of thy vanity, 1 Which are given thee under the sun: 1 For that is thy portion in thy life, 1 And in thy labor wherein thou laborest under the sun. 1
10Whatsoever thy hand shall find to do, 1 Do with all thy might; 1 For there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, 1 Nor wisdom, in Hades whither thou goest. 1
11I returned, and saw under the sun, 1 That the race is not to the swift, 1 Nor the battle to the strong, 1 Nor yet bread to the wise, 1 Nor yet wealth to men of understanding, 1 Nor yet favor to men of knowledge; 1 For time and chance will happen to them all. 1
12For surely man also knows not his time: 1 As fish that are taken in an evil net, 1 And as birds that are caught in a snare; 1 Even thus the sons of men are snared at an evil time, 1 When it falls suddenly upon them. 1
13This I also saw to be wisdom under the sun, 1 And it is great before me: 1
14Suppose there were a little city, and few men in it; 1 And there should come against it a great king, and surround it, 1 And build great mounds against it; 1
15And should find in it a poor wise man, 1 And he should save the city through his wisdom: 1 Yet no man would remember that poor man. 1
16And I said, Wisdom is better than power: 1 Yet the wisdom of the poor man is set at nought, 1 And his words not listened to. 1
17The words of the wise are heard in quiet 1 More than the cry of them that rule in folly. 1
18Wisdom is better than weapons of war: 1 And one sinner will destroy much good.