Ecclesiastes 9-10

Common English Bible

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. ²Everything is the same for everyone. The same fate awaits the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,^[a] 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. ³This 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. ⁴Whoever is among the living can be certain about this. A living dog is definitely better off than a dead lion, ⁵because 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. ⁶Their 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.

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

Listen to common wisdom, not fools

¹¹I 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. ¹²People 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.

¹³I also observed the following example of wisdom under the sun—it impressed me greatly: ¹⁴There was a small town with only a few residents. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and waged a terrible war against it. ¹⁵Now there lived in that town a poor but wise man who saved everyone by his wisdom. But no one remembered that poor man. ¹⁶So I thought, Wisdom is better than might, but the wisdom of commoners is despised and their words aren’t heeded.

¹⁷The calm words of the wise are better heeded than the racket caused by a ruler among fools.

¹⁸Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one incompetent person destroys much good.

10 As dead flies spoil the perfumer’s oil,
    so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
²The mind of the wise tends toward the right,
    but the mind of the fool toward the left.
³Fools lack all sense even when they walk down the street;
    they show everyone that they are fools.
⁴If a ruler’s temper rises against you,
    don’t leave your post, because calmness alleviates great offenses.

⁵There’s an evil that I have seen under the sun: the kind of mistake that comes from people in power. ⁶Fools are appointed to high posts, while the rich sit in lowly positions. ⁷I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes walk on foot like slaves.

⁸Whoever digs a pit may fall into it,
    and whoever breaks through a wall
    may be bitten by a snake.
⁹Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them;
    whoever splits logs
    may be endangered by them.
¹⁰If an ax is dull
    and one doesn’t sharpen it first,
    then one must exert more force.
It’s profitable to be skillful and wise.
¹¹If a snake bites before it’s charmed,
    then there’s no profit
    for the snake charmer.
¹²Words from a wise person’s mouth are beneficial,
    but fools are devoured by their own lips.
¹³Fools start out talking foolishness
    and end up speaking awful nonsense.
¹⁴Fools talk too much!
    No one knows what will happen;
    no one can say what will happen in the future.
¹⁵The hard work of fools tires them out
    because they don’t even know the way to town!
¹⁶Too bad for you, land,
    whose king is a boy
    and whose princes feast in the morning.
¹⁷Happy is the land
    whose king is dignified
    and whose princes feast at the right time for energy,
        not for drunkenness.
¹⁸Through laziness, the roof sags;
    through idle hands, the house leaks.
¹⁹Feasts are made for laughter,
    wine cheers the living,
    and money answers everything.^[f]

²⁰Don’t curse a king even in private; don’t curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird could carry your voice; some winged creature could report what you said!