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.

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Footnotes

uch. 4:1, 7. Comp. ver. 7–10.
zSee Prov. 13:15.
a 1 Kin. 5:4 (Heb.).
bSee ch. 2:14.
cSee ch. 8:7.
dSee Prov. 12:12 text.
fSo Prov. 29:6. Luke 21:35.

Cross references

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In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

I have seen something else under the sun:

The race is not to the swift

or the battle to the strong,

nor does food come to the wise

or wealth to the brilliant

or favor to the learned;

but time and chance happen to them all.

Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:

As fish are caught in a cruel net,

or birds are taken in a snare,

so people are trapped by evil times

that fall unexpectedly upon them.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them. For certainly no one knows his time: like fish caught in a cruel net or like birds caught in a trap, so people are trapped in an evil time as it suddenly falls on them.

NLTNew Living Translation

I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.

People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

I looked again and saw under the sun that the race does not belong to the swift, the battle does not belong to the mighty, food does not belong to the wise, wealth does not belong to the intelligent, and success does not belong to the skillful, for time and chance befalls all of them. For man does not know his time. Just as fish are caught in a cruel net and like birds who are seized in a snare, so also humans are ensnared at a cruel time when it falls suddenly upon them.