Ecclesiastes 9:10-18

Complete Jewish Bible

¹⁰ Whatever task comes your way to do, do it with all your strength; because in Sh’ol, where you will go, there is neither working nor planning, neither knowledge nor wisdom.

¹¹ Yet another thing I observed under the sun is that races aren’t won by the swift or battles by the strong, and that food doesn’t go to the wise or wealth to the intelligent or favor to the experts; rather, time and chance rule them all. ¹² For people don’t know when their time will come any more than fish taken in the fatal net or birds caught in a snare; similarly, people are snared at an unfortunate time, when suddenly it falls on them.

¹³ Here is something else I have seen as wisdom under the sun, and it seemed important to me: ¹⁴ there was a small town with few people in it; and a great king came to attack it; he surrounded it and built massive siege-works against it. ¹⁵ Now there was found in it a man who was poor but wise, and by his wisdom he saved the city; yet afterwards, nobody remembered that poor man. ¹⁶ So, although I say that wisdom is better than strength, nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised; nobody pays attention to what he says.