10 Meanwhile, I saw the wicked being honorably buried, but those who came and went from the holy place were forgotten in the city, even though they had done so. This also is vanity!

Although Evil is Not Punished Swiftly, God Does Eventually Punish Sinners

11 Because sentence against an evil deed is not carried out quickly, the heart of ⌊humans⌋d fills up within them to do evil. 12 Although the sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I also know that it will be good for those who fear God—because they fear ⌊his presence⌋.e 13 But it will not go well with the wicked, and they will not prolong their days, like the shadow; because there is no fearing ⌊God’s presence⌋.f 14 There is a vanity that happens on earth: sometimes the righteous suffer what the wicked deserve, and sometimes the wicked receive what the righteous deserve. I said, “This also is vanity!”

Humans Should Enjoy the Life That God Gives to Them

15 So I recommend enjoyment. For there is nothing better for man under the sun than to eat and to drink and to rejoice. This will accompany him in his toil the days of his life that God gives to him under the sun.

No One Can Discover the Rhyme and Reason for Things

16 I applied my mind to know wisdom and to understand the business that is done on earth—how neither day nor night one’s eyes see sleep. 17 Then I saw all the work of God—man is not able to discover the work that is done under the sun. Although man may toil in seeking, he cannot find it. Even if a wise man claims that he knows it, he cannot find it.

The Same Fate—Death—Awaits Everyone

9 So all this I laid to my heart, and I concludeda that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in the hand of God. So no one knows anything that will come to them, whether it will be love or hatred. 2 The same fate comes to everyone:

to the righteous and to the wicked,

to the good and to the wicked,b

to the clean and to the unclean,

to those who sacrifice and to those who do not sacrifice.

As with the good man, so also to the sinner;

as with those who swear an oath, so also those who fear oaths.

3 This is the ⌊injustice⌋c that is done under the sun:

the same fate comes to everyone.

Also the hearts of ⌊humans⌋d are full of evil;

delusion is in their hearts during their lives, and then they die.

Death Deprives Humans of Everything in Life

4 Whoever is joinede to all the living has hope. After all, even a live dog is better than a dead lion! 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything. They no longer have a reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. 6 What they loved and hated, as well as what they desired, has already perished. They no longer have any share in what is done under the sun.

Enjoy Life While It Lasts

7 Go—eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart! For God already has approved your deeds. 8 Always be clothed in white garments, and never let your head lack oil! 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which he gives you under the sun, because this is your lot in life and in the toil with which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do—do it with all your might; for in Sheol—where you are going—no one works, plans, knows, or thinks about anything.

The Injustice of Time and Chance

11 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 successf does not belong to the skillful, for time and chance befalls all of them. 12 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⌋g are ensnared at a cruel time when it falls suddenly upon them.