Ecclesiastes 9:12
For man also doesn’t know his time. As the fish that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly on them.
World English Bible Classic
In The King James Version
In Context
13I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.
Cross References
Psalms 11:6On the wicked he will rain blazing coals; fire, sulfur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
Psalms 73:19How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors.
Proverbs 7:22He followed her immediately, as an ox goes to the slaughter, as a fool stepping into a noose.
Proverbs 29:6An evil man is snared by his sin, but the righteous can sing and be glad.
Ecclesiastes 8:8There is no man who has power over the spirit to contain the spirit; neither does he have power over the day of death. There is no discharge in war; neither shall wickedness deliver those who practice it.
Isaiah 30:13therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly in an instant.
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 →