Ecclesiastes 8:10-9:12

Common English Bible

¹⁰ Then I saw the wicked brought to their graves, with people processing from a holy place,^[a] while those who had lived honestly were neglected in the city. This too is pointless.

¹¹ The condemnation for wicked acts isn’t carried out quickly; that’s why people dare to do evil. ¹² Wrongdoers may commit a hundred crimes but still live long lives. But I also know that it will go well for those who fear God, for those who are reverent before God. ¹³ But it will not go well for the wicked; they won’t live long at all because they aren’t reverent before God. ¹⁴ Here’s another thing that happens on earth that is pointless: the righteous get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked get what the righteous deserve. I say that this too is pointless.

Enjoy life

¹⁵ So I commend enjoyment because there’s nothing better for people to do under the sun but to eat, drink, and be glad. This is what will accompany them in their hard work, during the lifetime that God gives under the sun.

¹⁶ Then I set my mind to know wisdom and to observe the business that happens on earth, even going without sleep day and night ¹⁷ I observed all the work of God—that no one can grasp what happens under the sun. Those who strive to know can’t grasp it. Even the wise who are set on knowing are unable to grasp it.

Everyone faces the same fate

9 So I considered all of this carefully, examining all of it: The righteous and the wise and their deeds are in God’s hand, along with both love and hate. People don’t know anything that’s ahead of them. ² Everything is the same for everyone. The same fate awaits the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,^[b] the pure and the impure, those who sacrifice and those who don’t sacrifice. The good person is like the wrongdoer; the same holds for those who make solemn pledges and those who are afraid to swear. ³ This is the sad thing about all that happens under the sun: the same fate awaits everyone. Moreover, the human heart is full of evil; people’s minds are full of madness while they are alive, and afterward they die. ⁴ Whoever is among the living can be certain about this. A living dog is definitely better off than a dead lion, ⁵ because the living know that they will die. But the dead know nothing at all. There is no more reward for them; even the memory of them is lost. ⁶ Their love and their hate, as well as their zeal, are already long gone. They will never again have a stake in all that happens under the sun.

⁷ Go, eat your food joyfully and drink your wine happily because God has already accepted what you do. ⁸ Let your garments always be white; don’t run short of oil for your head. ⁹ Enjoy life with your dearly loved spouse all the days of your pointless life that God^[c] gives you under the sun—all the days of your pointless life!^[d]—because that’s your part to play^[e] in this life and in your hard work under the sun. ¹⁰ Whatever you are capable of doing, do with all your might because there’s no work, thought, knowledge, or wisdom in the grave,^[f] which is where you are headed.

Listen to common wisdom, not fools

¹¹ I also observed under the sun that the race doesn’t always go to the swift, nor the battle to the mighty, nor food to the wise, nor wealth to the intelligent, nor favor to the knowledgeable, because accidents can happen to anyone. ¹² People most definitely don’t know when their time will come. Like fish tragically caught in a net or like birds trapped in a snare, so are human beings caught in a time of tragedy that suddenly falls to them.