New American Standard Bible 1995

Ecclesiastes 9

Men Are in the Hand of God

1For I have taken all this to my heart and explain 1it that righteous men, wise men, and their deeds are 2in the hand of God. 3Man does not know whether it will be 4love or hatred; anything 5awaits him.

2 6It is the same for all. There is 7one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who 8is afraid to swear. 3This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is 9one fate for all men. Furthermore, 10the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and 11insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead. 4For whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion. 5For the living know they will die; but the dead 12do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their 13memory is forgotten. 6Indeed their love, their hate and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a 14share in all that is done under the sun.

7Go then, 15eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works. 8Let your 16clothes be white all the time, and let not 17oil be lacking on your head. 9Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your 18 19fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun20; for this is your 21reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.

Whatever Your Hand Finds to Do

10Whatever your hand finds to do, 22do it with all your might; for there is no 23activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in 24Sheol where you are going.

11I again saw under the sun that the 25race is not to the swift and the 26battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor 27wealth to the discerning nor favor to men of ability; for time and 28chance overtake them all. 12Moreover, man does not 29know his time: like fish caught in a treacherous net and 30birds trapped in a snare, so the sons of men are 31ensnared at an evil time when it 32suddenly falls on them.

13Also this I came to see as wisdom under the sun, and 33it impressed me. 14There 34was a small city with few men in it and a great king came to it, surrounded it and constructed large siegeworks against it. 15But there was found in it a 35poor wise man and he 36delivered the city 37by his wisdom. Yet 38no one remembered that poor man. 16So I said, “39Wisdom is better than strength.” But the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words are not heeded. 17The 40words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 41Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but 42one sinner destroys much good.

Notes

1. Ecclesiastes 9:1 Lit all this ↩
2. Ecclesiastes 9:1 Deut 33:3; Job 12:10; Ps 119:109 ↩
3. Ecclesiastes 9:1 Eccl 10:14 ↩
4. Ecclesiastes 9:1 Eccl 9:6 ↩
5. Ecclesiastes 9:1 Lit is before them ↩
6. Ecclesiastes 9:2 Job 9:22; Eccl 9:11 ↩
7. Ecclesiastes 9:2 Eccl 2:14; 3:19; 6:6; 7:2 ↩
8. Ecclesiastes 9:2 Lit fears an oath ↩
9. Ecclesiastes 9:3 Eccl 9:2; Jer 17:10 ↩
10. Ecclesiastes 9:3 Eccl 8:11 ↩
11. Ecclesiastes 9:3 Eccl 1:17 ↩
12. Ecclesiastes 9:5 Job 14:21 ↩
13. Ecclesiastes 9:5 Ps 88:12; Eccl 1:11; 2:16; 8:10; Is 26:14 ↩
14. Ecclesiastes 9:6 Eccl 2:10; 3:22 ↩
15. Ecclesiastes 9:7 Eccl 2:24; 8:15 ↩
16. Ecclesiastes 9:8 Rev 3:4 ↩
17. Ecclesiastes 9:8 Ps 23:5 ↩
18. Ecclesiastes 9:9 Lit life of vanity ↩
19. Ecclesiastes 9:9 Eccl 6:12; 7:15 ↩
20. Ecclesiastes 9:9 Heb adds all the days of your vanity ↩
21. Ecclesiastes 9:9 Eccl 2:10 ↩
22. Ecclesiastes 9:10 Eccl 11:6; Rom 12:11; Col 3:23 ↩
23. Ecclesiastes 9:10 Eccl 9:5 ↩
24. Ecclesiastes 9:10 Gen 37:35; Job 21:13; Is 38:10 ↩
25. Ecclesiastes 9:11 Amos 2:14, 15 ↩
26. Ecclesiastes 9:11 2 Chr 20:15; Ps 76:5; Zech 4:6 ↩
27. Ecclesiastes 9:11 Deut 8:17, 18 ↩
28. Ecclesiastes 9:11 1 Sam 6:9 ↩
29. Ecclesiastes 9:12 Eccl 8:7 ↩
30. Ecclesiastes 9:12 Prov 7:23 ↩
31. Ecclesiastes 9:12 Prov 29:6; Is 24:18; Hos 9:8 ↩
32. Ecclesiastes 9:12 Luke 21:34, 35 ↩
33. Ecclesiastes 9:13 Lit great it was to me ↩
34. Ecclesiastes 9:14 2 Sam 20:16-22 ↩
35. Ecclesiastes 9:15 Eccl 4:13 ↩
36. Ecclesiastes 9:15 Or might have delivered ↩
37. Ecclesiastes 9:15 2 Sam 20:22 ↩
38. Ecclesiastes 9:15 Eccl 2:16; 8:10 ↩
39. Ecclesiastes 9:16 Prov 21:22; Eccl 7:12, 19 ↩
40. Ecclesiastes 9:17 Eccl 7:5; 10:12 ↩
41. Ecclesiastes 9:18 Eccl 9:16 ↩
42. Ecclesiastes 9:18 Josh 7:1-26; 2 Kin 21:2-17 ↩

Men Are in the Hand of God

Whatever Your Hand Finds to Do

Notes

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 9