Ecclesiastes 9 — The Holy Bible

Ecclesiastes 9, verse 1. For I gave my heart to all this, and my heart saw all this, that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. Whether it be love or hatred, man does not know it, although all things are before him.

Vanity is in all things:

One event happens to the righteous man and the ungodly man,

To the good man and the evil man,

To the pure man and the impure man,

To the man who sacrifices and the man who does not sacrifice.

As is the good man, so is the man who sins;

As is he who takes an oath, so is he who fears an oath.

Ecclesiastes 9, verse 3. There is this evil in everything done under the sun, that one event happens to all. And truly the heart of the sons of men is full of evil; madness is in their heart while they live, and afterwards they go to the dead. Ecclesiastes 9, verse 4. For who has fellowship with all the living? There is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

For the living know they will die,

But the dead know nothing;

And they have no more reward,

For the memory of them is forgotten.

Also their love, hatred, and envy have now perished;

And they have no portion forever

In all that is done under the sun.

Go, eat your bread with merriment

And drink your wine with a happy heart;

For now God is well pleased with your works.

Let your garments be always white,

And let your head lack no oil.

Ecclesiastes 9, verse 9. Experience life with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He gave you under the sun all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life and in the labor you performed under the sun. Ecclesiastes 9, verse 10. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no work or reasoning or knowledge or wisdom in Hades where you are going. Ecclesiastes 9, verse 11. I returned and saw under the sun that:

The race is not to the swift,

Nor the battle to the strong,

Nor bread to the wise,

Nor wealth to men of understanding,

Nor favor to men of knowledge;

For time and chance will happen to them all.

For man also does not know his time:

Like fish taken in a cruel net,

Like birds caught in a snare,

So the sons of men are snared in an evil time

When it falls suddenly upon them.

Wisdom Is Better Than Strength

Ecclesiastes 9, verse 13. I saw this wisdom under the sun, and it is great to me. Ecclesiastes 9, verse 14. There was a little city with a few men in it; and a great king came against it and surrounded it and built great barricades around it. Ecclesiastes 9, verse 15. Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and by his wisdom he rescued the city; yet no one remembered that poor man. Ecclesiastes 9, verse 16. Then I said:

“Wisdom is better than strength,

But the poor man's wisdom is despised,

And his words are not heard.

The words of the wise are heard in quietness

More than the shouting of those who rule in foolishness.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war,

But one sinner destroys much goodness.”