1 F or I have thought of all this, how good and wise men and their works are in the hand of God. Man does not know if love or hate is waiting for them.

¶ Certainly I applied my heart unto all of this that I might declare all of this: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God; no man knows either love or hatred by all that passes before them.

2 I t is the same for all. The same thing will happen to both the man who is good and the man who is sinful. The same thing will happen to the clean and the unclean, and to the man who gives a gift on the altar and to the man who does not. As the good man is, so is the sinner. As the man who swears is, so is the one who is afraid to swear.

All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean and to the unclean; to him that sacrifices and to him that does not sacrifice: as unto the good so unto the sinner; and unto him that swears as unto him that fears the oath.

3 T his is a bad thing in all that is done under the sun, that the same thing happens to all men. Also the hearts of men are sinful and crazy all their lives. Then they join the dead.

This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all; and also that the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

4 B ut there is hope for the one who is among the living. For sure a live dog is better off than a dead lion.

¶ For to him that is still among the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

5 F or the living know they will die. But the dead know nothing, and they will receive nothing further, for they are forgotten.

For the living know that they shall die, but the dead do not know any thing; neither do they have any more reward, for their memory is placed into oblivion.

6 T heir love and hate and desire have already died. They will no longer have a part in what is done under the sun.

Even their love and their hatred and their envy is now perished; neither have they any more a portion in the age in any thing that is done under the sun.

7 G o and eat your bread in happiness. Drink your wine with a happy heart. For God has already been pleased with your works.

Go, eat thy bread with joy and drink thy wine with a joyful heart that thy works might be acceptable unto God.

8 L et your clothes be white all the time. And let there always be oil on your head.

Thy garments shall always be white, and thy head shall never lack ointment.

9 E njoy life with the woman you love all the days of your life that will soon be over. God has given you these days under the sun. This is the good you will get in life and in your work which you have done under the sun.

Live joyfully with the wife whom thou dost love all the days which thou art to live in this lake of vanity, which are given unto thee; all the days of thy vanity under the sun: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour in which thou dost work under the sun.

10 W hatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your strength. For there is no work or planning or learning or wisdom in the place of the dead where you are going.

Whatever thy hand finds to do, do it with all thy might, for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol, where thou goest.

11 A gain I saw under the sun that the race is not to the fast and the battle to the men of war. Bread is not to the wise and riches are not to the men of understanding. Favor is not to able workers. Time comes and goes and things happen for no reason to them all.

¶ I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of prudence, nor yet grace to men of eloquence; but time and chance happens to them all.

12 M an does not know his time. Like fish caught in a bad net, and birds caught in a trap, so men are trapped at a bad time when trouble comes upon them when they do not expect it. Wisdom Is Better Than Being Foolish

For man also does not know his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net and as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men snared in the evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them.

13 I have also seen this as wisdom under the sun, and it made me think.

¶ I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, which is important unto me:

14 T here was a small city with few men in it, and a great king came to it. His army gathered around it and built a large wall to help them in battle against it.

There was a little city and few men within it; and a great king came against it and besieged it and built great bulwarks against it;

15 B ut a poor wise man was found in the city, and he brought the city out of its trouble by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no one remembered that same poor man.

16 S o I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the wisdom of the poor man is hated and his words are not carried out.

Then I said, Wisdom is better than strength: even though the poor man’s knowledge is despised, and his words are not heard.

17 T he words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the loud words of a ruler among fools.

The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that rules among fools.

18 W isdom is better than objects used in war, but one sinner destroys much good.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.