Ecclesiastes 9
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 9
Love, Hatred, and Death.[a] 1 To all this I have applied my mind, and I came to this conclusion: the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. As to whether they will earn love or hatred, we have no way of knowing. 2 Everything that confronts them is futile, inasmuch as the same fate comes to all, to the upright, and the wicked, to the good and the bad, to the clean and the unclean, to those who offer sacrifice and those who do not.
As it is with the good person,
so is it with the sinner;
as it is with the one who takes an oath,
so is it with the one who is fearful of doing so.
3 The worst evil of all the things that happen under the sun is this: that the same fate befalls everyone. Moreover, the hearts of men are filled with evil; madness is in their hearts throughout their lives, and afterward they descend to the dead. 4 However, the one who is counted among the living still has hope. It is preferable to be a living dog rather than a dead lion.
5 The living realize that they will die,
whereas the dead know nothing whatever.
They will have no further reward,
and even the memory of them will be obliterated.
6 For them all love and hatred and jealousy
have already perished.
Never again will they have any share
in anything that is done under the sun.
Eat, Drink, and Love.[b] 7 Go forth, then. Eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God long ago approved what you do. 8 At all times dress in white garments and always anoint your head with oil.
9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love throughout all the days of your allotted span of life that have been given to you under the sun, because that is your lot while you live and labor here under the sun. 10 Whatever task your hand finds to do, expend all your efforts on it, for you will find no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom in the netherworld to which you are going.
11 Destiny and Life. Another thing I have observed here under the sun:
The race is not won by the swift,
nor the battle by the brave.
Food does not belong to the wise,
nor wealth to the intelligent,
nor success to the skillful.
Rather, time and chance govern all alike.
12 For no one is able to anticipate the time of disaster:
Like fish caught in a treacherous net,
and like birds caught in a snare,
so people are trapped
when misfortune suddenly falls upon them.
13 War and Peace.[c] I have also seen the following example of wisdom under the sun, and I find it of great significance.
14 There was a small town with very few inhabitants. A great king advanced against it and surrounded it while building great siege-works. 15 In the town there lived a man who, though poor, was wise, and by his wisdom he delivered the town. Yet no one remembered this poor man afterward. 16 Therefore, I said, “Wisdom is better than power.” Yet the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words go unheeded.
A Wise Man in the City of Fools[d]
17 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded
than the shouts of a ruler of fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but one mistake can undo a great deal of good.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 9:1 Qoheleth does not yet foresee the hope of a resurrection, and the pious teachings concerning prosperity of the righteous and the ruin of the wicked have for him a taste of useless opium. But he clings to the idea that it is good to live!
- Ecclesiastes 9:7 In the modest trilogy (eat, drink, and love) of happiness, love, which endures for a lifetime, replaces the joy of labor. Even if Qoheleth hasn’t the slightest presentiment of an eternal life, he has learned to accept the present as a gift of God.
- Ecclesiastes 9:13 Wisdom is more important than arms to save nations, but humankind seems unable to understand this. In all the eras of history, it prefers to keep the memory of its war leaders.
- Ecclesiastes 9:17 Qoheleth inserts some sayings and illustrations on the subject of chance. Merit means nothing in the face of chance (Eccl 9:11-12), and many things succeed or fail because of trivial causes (Eccl 9:13—10:20); hence risk is an essential part of life (Eccl 11:1-6).
