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)

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(E)
    that fall unexpectedly upon them.(F)

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The Injustice of Time and Chance

11 I looked again and saw under the sun that the race does not belong to the swift, the battle does not belong to the mighty, food does not belong to the wise, wealth does not belong to the intelligent, and success[a] does not belong to the skillful, for time and chance befalls all of them. 12 For man does not know his time. Just as fish are caught in a cruel net and like birds who are seized in a snare, so also humans[b] are ensnared at a cruel time when it falls suddenly upon them.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 9:11 Or “favor”
  2. Ecclesiastes 9:12 Literally “the sons of the man”