Ecclesiastes 9-10

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) ²All 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)

³This 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) ⁴Anyone who is among the living has hope^[b]—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!

⁵For 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)
⁶Their 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)

⁷Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine^(J) with a joyful heart,^(K) for God has already approved what you do. ⁸Always be clothed in white,^(L) and always anoint your head with oil. ⁹Enjoy 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. ¹⁰Whatever^(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)

¹¹I 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)

¹²Moreover, 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

¹³I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom^(Y) that greatly impressed me: ¹⁴There 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. ¹⁵Now 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) ¹⁶So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.^(AA)

¹⁷The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded
than the shouts of a ruler of fools.
¹⁸Wisdom^(AB) is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner destroys much good.

10 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
    so a little folly^(AC) outweighs wisdom and honor.
²The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
    but the heart of the fool to the left.
³Even as fools walk along the road,
    they lack sense
    and show everyone^(AD) how stupid they are.
⁴If a ruler’s anger rises against you,
    do not leave your post;^(AE)
    calmness can lay great offenses to rest.^(AF)

⁵There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
    the sort of error that arises from a ruler:
⁶Fools are put in many high positions,^(AG)
    while the rich occupy the low ones.
⁷I have seen slaves on horseback,
    while princes go on foot like slaves.^(AH)

⁸Whoever digs a pit may fall into it;^(AI)
whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.^(AJ)
⁹Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them;
whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.^(AK)

¹⁰If the ax is dull
and its edge unsharpened,
more strength is needed,
but skill will bring success.

¹¹If a snake bites before it is charmed,
the charmer receives no fee.^(AL)

¹²Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious,^(AM)
    but fools are consumed by their own lips.^(AN)
¹³At the beginning their words are folly;
    at the end they are wicked madness—
¹⁴    and fools multiply words.^(AO)

No one knows what is coming—
who can tell someone else what will happen after them?^(AP)

¹⁵The toil of fools wearies them;
they do not know the way to town.

¹⁶Woe to the land whose king was a servant^[c]^(AQ)
    and whose princes feast in the morning.
¹⁷Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth
    and whose princes eat at a proper time—
    for strength and not for drunkenness.^(AR)

¹⁸Through laziness, the rafters sag;
because of idle hands, the house leaks.^(AS)

¹⁹A feast is made for laughter,
wine^(AT) makes life merry,
and money is the answer for everything.

²⁰Do not revile the king^(AU) even in your thoughts,
or curse the rich in your bedroom,
because a bird in the sky may carry your words,
and a bird on the wing may report what you say.

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
Ecclesiastes 10:16 Or king is a child