Ecclesiastes 9

1 I applied all this to my heart, and my heart saw all this: the righteous, the wise, and their works are in God’s hand. No person knows either love or hatred; everything lies before them. 2 Futility is in everything. The same outcome comes to the righteous and the ungodly, the good and the evil, the pure and the impure, the one who sacrifices and the one who does not sacrifice. As with the good person, so with the sinner; as with the one who swears, so with the one who fears an oath. [a] 3 This is an evil in everything done under the sun: the same outcome comes to everyone. The human heart is filled with evil, and madness is in their heart during life; afterward they go to the dead. 4 Whoever is joined to all the living has hope, because a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 The living know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love, hatred, and envy have already perished. They will never again have any portion in anything done under the sun.

7 Go, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, because God has already accepted your works with favor. 8 Let your clothes always be white, and do not let oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife you love during all the days of your futile life given to you under the sun, because this is your portion in life and in the toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Hades, where you are going.

11 Again I saw under the sun that the race does not belong to the swift, the battle to the strong, bread to the wise, wealth to the discerning, or favor to the knowledgeable. Time and chance occur to them all. 12 A person does not know his time. Like fish caught in an evil net and birds caught in a snare, human beings are trapped at an evil time when it suddenly falls on them.

13 I also saw this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me: 14 There may be a small city with few people in it. A great king may come against it, surround it, and build great siegeworks against it. 15 He may find a poor wise man in it, and that man will rescue the city through his wisdom. Yet no one remembers that poor man. 16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than power,” though the poor man’s wisdom was despised and his words were not heard. 17 Words of the wise spoken quietly are heard more than the shout of someone ruling among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner will destroy much good.