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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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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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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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 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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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,

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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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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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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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

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

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10 More to be desired are they than (A)gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the [a]honeycomb.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 19:10 honey in the combs

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