Ecclesiastes 9:10-12

Contemporary English Version

¹⁰Work hard at whatever you do. You will soon go to the world of the dead, where no one works or thinks or reasons or even knows anything.

¹¹Here is something else I have learned:

The fastest runners
    and the greatest heroes
don't always win races
    and battles.
Wisdom, intelligence, and skill
don't always make you healthy,
    rich, or popular.
We each have our own share
    of misfortune.

¹²None of us know when we might fall victim to a sudden disaster and find ourselves like fish in a net or birds in a trap.

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Ecclesiastes 9:10-12

New International Version

¹⁰Whatever^(A) your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,^(B) for in the realm of the dead,^(C) where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.^(D)

¹¹I have seen something else under the sun:

The race is not to the swift
    or the battle to the strong,^(E)
nor does food come to the wise^(F)
    or wealth to the brilliant
    or favor to the learned;
but time and chance^(G) happen to them all.^(H)

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^(I)
that fall unexpectedly upon them.^(J)

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Contemporary English Version (CEV)

New International Version (NIV)

Ecclesiastes 9:10-12

Contemporary English Version

Ecclesiastes 9:10-12

New International Version

Cross references

More on the NIV

Ecclesiastes 9:10-12 Contemporary English Version

Ecclesiastes 9:10-12 New International Version

Cross references

More on the NIV

Ecclesiastes 9:10-12

Contemporary English Version

Ecclesiastes 9:10-12

New International Version