One and the same fate for all
1All this I laid to heart, and all this I sifted: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. Whether it be love or hate, man does not know; everything lies before them. 2Everything is the same for everyone: one and the same fate comes to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the clean and the unclean, to the one who sacrifices and the one who does not sacrifice; as it is for the good man, so for the sinner; for the one who swears, as for the one who is afraid to swear.* 3This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one and the same fate comes to all. And the heart of the sons of man is full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live — and after that, to the dead. 4For whoever is joined to all the living has hope: a living dog is better off than a dead lion. 5For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and never again will they have a portion in anything that is done under the sun. 7Go, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a good heart, for God has already accepted your works. 8Let your clothes be white at all times, and let oil not be lacking on your head. 9See life with the woman you love, all the days of your breath of a life that he has given you under the sun — all the days of your breath. For that is your portion in life and in the toil at which you toil under the sun. 10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your strength; for there is no work or reckoning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, where you are going. 11Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; that bread is not to the wise, nor riches to the discerning, nor favor to those who know; for time and chance meet them all. 12For man does not know his time either. Like fish caught in a cruel net, like birds caught in a snare, so are the sons of man trapped at an evil time, when it falls upon them suddenly.
The poor man who saved the city
13This too I saw as wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14There was a small city with few men in it. A great king came against it, surrounded it, and built great siegeworks against it. 15And there was found in it a poor wise man, and he saved the city by his wisdom — and no one remembered that poor man. 16So I said: wisdom is better than strength; yet the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. 17The words of the wise, heard in quiet, are better than the shout of a ruler among fools. 18Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.
Notes
- 9:2 — The Hebrew text reads “to the good, to the clean and to the unclean,” with no “to the evil” to pair with “to the good.” The Septuagint, the Syriac and the Vulgate add “and to the evil,” and many versions translate it so. The Septuagint also begins the verse with “vanity” instead of “everything.” This translation follows the Hebrew text.
