14 (A)The wise man’s eyes are in his head,
But the fool walks in darkness.
Yet I myself perceived
That (B)the same event happens to them all.

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14 The wise have eyes in their heads,
    while the fool walks in the darkness;
but I came to realize
    that the same fate overtakes them both.(A)

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24 (A)Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding,
But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

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24 A discerning person keeps wisdom in view,
    but a fool’s eyes(A) wander to the ends of the earth.

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10 For he sees wise men die;
Likewise the fool and the senseless person perish,
And leave their wealth to others.

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10 For all can see that the wise die,(A)
    that the foolish and the senseless(B) also perish,
    leaving their wealth(C) to others.(D)

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11 I returned (A)and saw under the sun that—

The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time and (B)chance happen to them all.

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11 I have seen something else under the sun:

The race is not to the swift
    or the battle to the strong,(A)
nor does food come to the wise(B)
    or wealth to the brilliant
    or favor to the learned;
but time and chance(C) happen to them all.(D)

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11 But he who (A)hates his brother is in darkness and (B)walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

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11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister(A) is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness.(B) They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.(C)

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Death Comes to All

For I [a]considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: (A)that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them. (B)All things come alike to all:

One event happens to the righteous and the wicked;
To the [b]good, the clean, and the unclean;
To him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice.
As is the good, so is the sinner;
He who takes an oath as he who fears an oath.

This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 9:1 Lit. put
  2. Ecclesiastes 9:2 LXX, Syr., Vg. good and bad,

A Common Destiny for All

So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.(A) All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,[a] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.

As it is with the good,
    so with the sinful;
as it is with those who take oaths,
    so with those who are afraid to take them.(B)

This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all.(C) The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live,(D) and afterward they join the dead.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 9:2 Septuagint (Aquila), Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew does not have and the bad.

19 (A)For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity.

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19 Surely the fate of human beings(A) is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath[a]; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 3:19 Or spirit

A wise man’s heart is at his right hand,
But a fool’s heart at his left.
Even when a fool walks along the way,
He lacks wisdom,
(A)And he shows everyone that he is a fool.

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The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
    but the heart of the fool to the left.
Even as fools walk along the road,
    they lack sense
    and show everyone(A) how stupid they are.

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16 Then I said:

“Wisdom is better than (A)strength.
Nevertheless (B)the poor man’s wisdom is despised,
And his words are not heard.

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16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.(A)

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Obey Authorities for God’s Sake

Who is like a wise man?
And who knows the interpretation of a thing?
(A)A man’s wisdom makes his face shine,
And (B)the [a]sternness of his face is changed.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 8:1 Lit. strength

Who is like the wise?
    Who knows the explanation of things?
A person’s wisdom brightens their face
    and changes its hard appearance.

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Better to go to the house of mourning
Than to go to the house of feasting,
For that is the end of all men;
And the living will take it to (A)heart.

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It is better to go to a house of mourning
    than to go to a house of feasting,
for death(A) is the destiny(B) of everyone;
    the living should take this to heart.

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even if he lives a thousand years twice—but has not seen goodness. Do not all go to one (A)place?

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even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?(A)

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The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way,
But the folly of fools is deceit.

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The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways,(A)
    but the folly of fools is deception.(B)

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