Ecclesiastes 9

9For all this ^†I considered in my heart even to ^adeclare all this, ^bthat the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: ^cno man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them. ^2dAll things come alike to all: there is ^eone event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and ^fhe that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. ³This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is ^eone event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and ^gmadness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead. ⁴For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. ⁵For the living know that they shall die: but ^hthe dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for ⁱthe memory of them is forgotten. ⁶Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is ^know perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

⁷Go thy way, ^leat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; ^mfor God ^know accepteth thy works. ⁸Let ⁿthy garments be always white; and ^olet thy head lack no ointment. ^9†Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, ^pwhich he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: ^qfor that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun. ¹⁰Whatsoever ^rthy hand findeth to do, ^sdo it with thy might; for there is no work, nor ^tdevice, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

¹¹I ^ureturned, and saw under the sun, that ^xthe race is not to the swift, nor ^ythe battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet ^zfavour to men of skill; but time and ^achance ^bhappeneth to them all. ¹²For ^cman also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil ^dnet, and as ^ethe birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men ^fsnared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

¹³This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me: ¹⁴There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and ^gbesieged it, and built great ^hbulwarks against it: ¹⁵Now there was found in it a ⁱpoor wise man, and he ^kby his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same ⁱpoor man. ¹⁶Then said I, ^lWisdom is better than strength: nevertheless ^mthe ⁱpoor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. ¹⁷The words of wise men are heard in ⁿquiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. ^18lWisdom is better than weapons of war: but ^oone sinner destroyeth much good.