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10 Whatever work you do, do your best. This is because you are going to the grave. There is no working, no planning, no knowledge and no wisdom there.

Time and Chance

11 I also realized something else here on earth that is senseless:
The fast runner does not always win the race.
    The strong army does not always win the battle.
The wise man does not always have food.
    The smart man does not always become wealthy.
    And the man with special skills does not always receive praise.
Bad things happen to everyone.
12 A person never knows what will happen to him next.
He is like a fish caught in a cruel net.
    He is like a bird caught in a trap.
In the same way, a person is trapped by bad things
    that suddenly happen to him.

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10 Whatever(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)

11 I 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)

12 Moreover, 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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