Ecclesiastes 9:10-18
New American Standard Bible
Whatever Your Hand Finds to Do
10 Whatever your hand finds to do, (A)do it with all your might; for there is no (B)activity, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in (C)Sheol where you are going.
11 I again saw under the sun that the (D)race is not to the swift and the (E)battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor (F)wealth to the discerning, nor favor to the skillful; for time and (G)chance overtake them all. 12 For indeed, a person does not (H)know his time: like fish that are caught in a treacherous net and (I)birds caught in a snare, so the sons of mankind are (J)ensnared at an evil time when it (K)suddenly falls on them.
13 This too I saw as wisdom under the sun, and [a]it impressed me: 14 there (L)was a small city with few men in it, and a great king came to it, surrounded it, and constructed large siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a (M)poor wise man, and he [b]saved the city (N)by his wisdom. Yet (O)no one remembered that poor man. 16 So I said, “(P)Wisdom is better than strength.” But the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are [c]ignored. 17 The (Q)words of the wise heard in calm are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 (R)Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but (S)one sinner destroys much good.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ecclesiastes 9:13 Lit it was great to me
- Ecclesiastes 9:15 Or might have saved
- Ecclesiastes 9:16 Lit not listened to
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