New American Standard Bible 1995

Ecclesiastes 9:11-18

11I again saw under the sun that the 1race is not to the swift and the 2battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor 3wealth to the discerning nor favor to men of ability; for time and 4chance overtake them all. 12Moreover, man does not 5know his time: like fish caught in a treacherous net and 6birds trapped in a snare, so the sons of men are 7ensnared at an evil time when it 8suddenly falls on them.

13Also this I came to see as wisdom under the sun, and 9it impressed me. 14There 10was 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 11poor wise man and he 12delivered the city 13by his wisdom. Yet 14no one remembered that poor man. 16So I said, “15Wisdom is better than strength.” But the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words are not heeded. 17The 16words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 17Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but 18one sinner destroys much good.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 9

Notes

1. Ecclesiastes 9:11 Amos 2:14, 15 ↩
2. Ecclesiastes 9:11 2 Chr 20:15; Ps 76:5; Zech 4:6 ↩
3. Ecclesiastes 9:11 Deut 8:17, 18 ↩
4. Ecclesiastes 9:11 1 Sam 6:9 ↩
5. Ecclesiastes 9:12 Eccl 8:7 ↩
6. Ecclesiastes 9:12 Prov 7:23 ↩
7. Ecclesiastes 9:12 Prov 29:6; Is 24:18; Hos 9:8 ↩
8. Ecclesiastes 9:12 Luke 21:34, 35 ↩
9. Ecclesiastes 9:13 Lit great it was to me ↩
10. Ecclesiastes 9:14 2 Sam 20:16-22 ↩
11. Ecclesiastes 9:15 Eccl 4:13 ↩
12. Ecclesiastes 9:15 Or might have delivered ↩
13. Ecclesiastes 9:15 2 Sam 20:22 ↩
14. Ecclesiastes 9:15 Eccl 2:16; 8:10 ↩
15. Ecclesiastes 9:16 Prov 21:22; Eccl 7:12, 19 ↩
16. Ecclesiastes 9:17 Eccl 7:5; 10:12 ↩
17. Ecclesiastes 9:18 Eccl 9:16 ↩
18. Ecclesiastes 9:18 Josh 7:1-26; 2 Kin 21:2-17 ↩

Notes

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 9