9I thought about all this and tried to understand it. I saw that God controls good people and wise people and what they do, but no one knows if they will experience love or hate.

²Good and bad people end up the same—

those who are right and those who are wrong,

those who are good and those who are evil,

those who are clean and those who are unclean,

those who sacrifice and those who do not.

The same things happen to a good person

as happen to a sinner,

to a person who makes promises to God

and to one who does not.

³This is something wrong that happens here on earth: What happens to one happens to all. So people’s minds are full of evil and foolish thoughts while they live. After that, they join the dead. ⁴But anyone still alive has hope; even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!

⁵The living know they will die,

but the dead know nothing.

Dead people have no more reward,

and people forget them.

⁶After people are dead,

they can no longer love or hate or envy.

They will never again share

in what happens here on earth.

Enjoy Life While You Can

⁷So go eat your food and enjoy it;

drink your wine and be happy,

because that is what God wants you to do.

⁸Put on nice clothes

and make yourself look good.

⁹Enjoy life with the wife you love. Enjoy all the useless days of this useless life God has given you here on earth, because it is all you have. So enjoy the work you do here on earth. ¹⁰Whatever work you do, do your best, because you are going to the grave, where there is no working, no planning, no knowledge, and no wisdom.

Time and Chance

¹¹I also saw something else here on earth:

The fastest runner does not always win the race,

the strongest soldier does not always win the battle,

the wisest does not always have food,

the smartest does not always become wealthy,

and the talented one does not always receive praise.

Time and chance happen to everyone.

¹²No one knows what will happen next.

Like a fish caught in a net,

or a bird caught in a trap,

people are trapped by evil

when it suddenly falls on them.

Wisdom Does Not Always Win

¹³I also saw something wise here on earth that impressed me. ¹⁴There was a small town with only a few people in it. A great king fought against it and put his armies all around it. ¹⁵Now there was a poor but wise man in the town who used his wisdom to save his town. But later on, everyone forgot about him. ¹⁶I still think wisdom is better than strength. But those people forgot about the poor man’s wisdom and stopped listening to what he said.

¹⁷The quiet words of a wise person are better

than the shouts of a foolish ruler.

¹⁸Wisdom is better than weapons of war,

but one sinner can destroy much good.

Read in Logos