Ecclesiastes 9-12

New King James Version

Death Comes to All

9 For I ^[a]considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: ^(A)that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them. ²^(B)All things come alike to all:

One event happens to the righteous and the wicked;
To the ^[b]good, the clean, and the unclean;
To him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice.
As is the good, so is the sinner;
He who takes an oath as he who fears an oath.

³This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. ⁴But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

⁵For the living know that they will die;
But ^(C)the dead know nothing,
And they have no more reward,
For ^(D)the memory of them is forgotten.
⁶Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished;
Nevermore will they have a share
In anything done under the sun.

⁷Go, ^(E)eat your bread with joy,
And drink your wine with a merry heart;
For God has already accepted your works.
⁸Let your garments always be white,
And let your head lack no oil.

⁹^[c]Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; ^(F)for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.

¹⁰^(G)Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your ^(H)might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

¹¹I returned ^(I)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 riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time and ^(J)chance happen to them all.
¹²For ^(K)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 ^(L)snared in an evil time,
When it falls suddenly upon them.

Wisdom Superior to Folly

¹³This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me: ¹⁴^(M)There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great ^[d]snares around it. ¹⁵Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man.

¹⁶Then I said:

“Wisdom is better than ^(N)strength.
Nevertheless ^(O)the poor man’s wisdom is despised,
And his words are not heard.
¹⁷Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard
Rather than the shout of a ruler of fools.
¹⁸Wisdom is better than weapons of war;
But ^(P)one sinner destroys much good.”

Wisdom and Folly

10 Dead^[e] flies ^[f]putrefy the perfumer’s ointment,
And cause it to give off a foul odor;
So does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor.
²A wise man’s heart is at his right hand,
But a fool’s heart at his left.
³Even when a fool walks along the way,
He lacks wisdom,
^(Q)And he shows everyone that he is a fool.
⁴If the spirit of the ruler rises against you,
^(R)Do not leave your post;
For ^(S)conciliation^[g] pacifies great offenses.

⁵There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
As an error proceeding from the ruler:
⁶^(T)Folly is set in ^[h]great dignity,
While the rich sit in a lowly place.
⁷I have seen servants ^(U)on horses,
While princes walk on the ground like servants.

⁸^(V)He who digs a pit will fall into it,
And whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a serpent.
⁹He who quarries stones may be hurt by them,
And he who splits wood may be endangered by it.
¹⁰If the ax is dull,
And one does not sharpen the edge,
Then he must use more strength;
But wisdom ^[i]brings success.

¹¹A serpent may bite ^(W)when it is not charmed;
The ^[j]babbler is no different.
¹²^(X)The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious,
But ^(Y)the lips of a fool shall swallow him up;
¹³The words of his mouth begin with foolishness,
And the end of his talk is raving madness.
¹⁴^(Z)A fool also multiplies words.
No man knows what is to be;
Who can tell him ^(AA)what will be after him?
¹⁵The labor of fools wearies them,
For they do not even know how to go to the city!

¹⁶^(AB)Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,
And your princes feast in the morning!
¹⁷Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles,
And your ^(AC)princes feast at the proper time—
For strength and not for drunkenness!
¹⁸Because of laziness the ^[k]building decays,
And ^(AD)through idleness of hands the house leaks.
¹⁹A feast is made for laughter,
And ^(AE)wine makes merry;
But money answers everything.

²⁰^(AF)Do not curse the king, even in your thought;
Do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom;
For a bird of the air may carry your voice,
And a bird in flight may tell the matter.

The Value of Diligence

11 Cast your bread ^(AG)upon the waters,
^(AH)For you will find it after many days.
²^(AI)Give a serving ^(AJ)to seven, and also to eight,
^(AK)For you do not know what evil will be on the earth.

³If the clouds are full of rain,
They empty themselves upon the earth;
And if a tree falls to the south or the north,
In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie.
⁴He who observes the wind will not sow,
And he who regards the clouds will not reap.

⁵As ^(AL)you do not know what is the way of the ^[l]wind,
^(AM)Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child,
So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.
⁶In the morning sow your seed,
And in the evening do not withhold your hand;
For you do not know which will prosper,
Either this or that,
Or whether both alike will be good.

⁷Truly the light is sweet,
And it is pleasant for the eyes ^(AN)to behold the sun;
⁸But if a man lives many years
And ^(AO)rejoices in them all,
Yet let him ^(AP)remember the days of darkness,
For they will be many.
All that is coming is vanity.

Seek God in Early Life

⁹Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,
And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth;
^(AQ)Walk in the ^[m]ways of your heart,
And ^[n]in the sight of your eyes;
But know that for all these
^(AR)God will bring you into judgment.
¹⁰Therefore remove ^[o]sorrow from your heart,
And ^(AS)put away evil from your flesh,
^(AT)For childhood and ^[p]youth are vanity.

Seek God in Early Life

12 Remember^(AU) now your Creator in the days of your youth,
Before the ^[q]difficult days come,
And the years draw near ^(AV)when you say,
“I have no pleasure in them”:
²While the sun and the light,
The moon and the stars,
Are not darkened,
And the clouds do not return after the rain;
³In the day when the keepers of the house tremble,
And the strong men bow down;
When the grinders cease because they are few,
And those that look through the windows grow dim;
⁴When the doors are shut in the streets,
And the sound of grinding is low;
When one rises up at the sound of a bird,
And all ^(AW)the daughters of music are brought low.
⁵Also they are afraid of height,
And of terrors in the way;
When the almond tree blossoms,
The grasshopper is a burden,
And desire fails.
For man goes to ^(AX)his eternal home,
And ^(AY)the mourners go about the streets.

⁶Remember your Creator before the silver cord is ^[r]loosed,
Or the golden bowl is broken,
Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,
Or the wheel broken at the well.
⁷^(AZ)Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,
^(BA)And the spirit will return to God ^(BB)who gave it.

⁸“Vanity^(BC) of vanities,” says the Preacher,
“All is vanity.”

The Whole Duty of Man

⁹And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and ^(BD)set^[s] in order many proverbs. ¹⁰The Preacher sought to find ^[t]acceptable words; and what was written was upright—words of truth. ¹¹The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of ^[u]scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd. ¹²And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and ^(BE)much study is wearisome to the flesh.

¹³Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

^(BF)Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
¹⁴For ^(BG)God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.