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Ecclesiastes 9
New Life Version
Ecclesiastes 9
New Life Version
9 For I have thought of all this, how good and wise men and their works are in the hand of God. Man does not know if love or hate is waiting for them.
2 It is the same for all. The same thing will happen to both the man who is good and the man who is sinful. The same thing will happen to the clean and the unclean, and to the man who gives a gift on the altar and to the man who does not. As the good man is, so is the sinner. As the man who swears is, so is the one who is afraid to swear. 3 This is a bad thing in all that is done under the sun, that the same thing happens to all men. Also the hearts of men are sinful and crazy all their lives. Then they join the dead. 4 But there is hope for the one who is among the living. For sure a live dog is better off than a dead lion. 5 For the living know they will die. But the dead know nothing, and they will receive nothing further, for they are forgotten. 6 Their love and hate and desire have already died. They will no longer have a part in what is done under the sun.
7 Go and eat your bread in happiness. Drink your wine with a happy heart. For God has already been pleased with your works. 8 Let your clothes be white all the time. And let there always be oil on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the woman you love all the days of your life that will soon be over. God has given you these days under the sun. This is the good you will get in life and in your work which you have done under the sun.
10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your strength. For there is no work or planning or learning or wisdom in the place of the dead where you are going. 11 Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the fast and the battle to the men of war. Bread is not to the wise and riches are not to the men of understanding. Favor is not to able workers. Time comes and goes and things happen for no reason to them all. 12 Man does not know his time. Like fish caught in a bad net, and birds caught in a trap, so men are trapped at a bad time when trouble comes upon them when they do not expect it.
Wisdom Is Better Than Being Foolish
13 I have also seen this as wisdom under the sun, and it made me think. 14 There was a small city with few men in it, and a great king came to it. His army gathered around it and built a large wall to help them in battle against it. 15 But a poor wise man was found in the city, and he brought the city out of its trouble by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the wisdom of the poor man is hated and his words are not carried out. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the loud words of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than objects used in war, but one sinner destroys much good.
Ecclesiastes 9
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 9
New International Version
A Common Destiny for All
9 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.(A) 2 All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,[a] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.
As it is with the good,
so with the sinful;
as it is with those who take oaths,
so with those who are afraid to take them.(B)
3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all.(C) The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live,(D) and afterward they join the dead.(E) 4 Anyone who is among the living has hope[b]—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!
5 For the living know that they will die,
but the dead know nothing;(F)
they have no further reward,
and even their name(G) is forgotten.(H)
6 Their love, their hate
and their jealousy have long since vanished;
never again will they have a part
in anything that happens under the sun.(I)
7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine(J) with a joyful heart,(K) for God has already approved what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white,(L) and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife,(M) whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot(N) in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever(O) your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,(P) for in the realm of the dead,(Q) where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.(R)
11 I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,(S)
nor does food come to the wise(T)
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance(U) happen to them all.(V)
12 Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:
As fish are caught in a cruel net,
or birds are taken in a snare,
so people are trapped by evil times(W)
that fall unexpectedly upon them.(X)
Wisdom Better Than Folly
13 I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom(Y) that greatly impressed me: 14 There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. 15 Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man.(Z) 16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.(AA)
17 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded
than the shouts of a ruler of fools.
18 Wisdom(AB) is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner destroys much good.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 9:2 Septuagint (Aquila), Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew does not have and the bad.
- Ecclesiastes 9:4 Or What then is to be chosen? With all who live, there is hope
New Life Version (NLV)
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New International Version (NIV) 
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