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Ecclesiastes 9:1-18 — A Common Destiny; Wisdom Better Than Folly
Eccl.9.1-18
1For I took all this to heart, to clarify it all: that the righteous and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hatred, no one knows; everything lies before them . 2Everything is the same for everyone: one fate comes to the righteous and the wicked, to the good, the clean, and the unclean, to the one who sacrifices and to the one who does not sacrifice. As it is for the good man, so it is for the sinner; as for the one who swears an oath, so for the one who fears an oath. 3This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: the same fate comes to everyone. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and afterward they go to the dead. 4For whoever is joined to all the living has hope, because a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for their memory is forgotten. 6Their love and their hatred and their envy have already perished, and they no longer have any share forever in anything done under the sun. 7Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a glad heart, for God has already approved your works. 8Let your garments always be white, and do not let oil be lacking on your head. 9Enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your fleeting life that he has given you under the sun, all your fleeting days; for that is your portion in life and in the labor at which you toil under the sun. 10Whatever your hand finds to do , do it with all your strength, for there is no work or reckoning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol , where you are going. 11I turned and saw under the sun that the race does not belong to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the discerning, nor favor to the skillful; for time and chance happen to them all. 12For indeed no one knows his time. Like fish caught in a deadly net and like birds caught in a snare, so the children of man are trapped at a time of calamity, when it suddenly falls on them. 13I also saw this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me: 14There was a small city with few men in it, and a great king came against it, surrounded it, and built great siegeworks against it. 15But a poor wise man was found in it, and by his wisdom he delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16So I said, 'Wisdom is better than strength, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.' 17The words of the wise, heard in calm, are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
Translation Notes
4/11/2026
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