Font Size
Ecclesiastes 9
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Ecclesiastes 9
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
B. No One Knows the Future
Chapter 9
1 All this I have kept in my heart and all this I examined: The just, the wise, and their deeds are in the hand of God. Love from hatred[a] mortals cannot tell; both are before them. 2 (A)Everything is the same for everybody: the same lot for the just and the wicked, for the good, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who offers sacrifice and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who takes an oath, so it is for the one who fears an oath. 3 Among all the things that are done under the sun, this is the worst, that there is one lot for all. Hence the hearts of human beings are filled with evil, and madness is in their hearts during life; and afterward—to the dead!
4 For whoever is chosen among all the living has hope: “A live dog[b] is better off than a dead lion.” 5 (B)For the living know that they are to die, but the dead no longer know anything. There is no further recompense for them, because all memory of them is lost. 6 For them, love and hatred and rivalry have long since perished. Never again will they have part in anything that is done under the sun.
7 (C)Go, eat your bread[c] with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart, because it is now that God favors your works. 8 At all times let your garments be white, and spare not the perfume for your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife you love, all the days of the vain life granted you under the sun. This is your lot in life, for the toil of your labors under the sun. 10 Anything you can turn your hand to, do with what power you have; for there will be no work, no planning, no knowledge, no wisdom in Sheol where you are going.
The Time of Misfortune Is Not Known. 11 Again I saw under the sun that the race is not won by the swift, nor the battle by the valiant, nor a livelihood by the wise, nor riches by the shrewd, nor favor by the experts; for a time of misfortune comes to all alike. 12 Human beings no more know their own time than fish taken in the fatal net or birds trapped in the snare; like these, mortals are caught when an evil time suddenly falls upon them.
The Uncertain Future and the Sages. 13 On the other hand I saw this wise deed under the sun, which I thought magnificent. 14 Against a small city with few inhabitants advanced a mighty king, who surrounded it and threw up great siegeworks about it. 15 But in the city lived a man who, though poor, was wise, and he delivered it through his wisdom. Yet no one remembered this poor man. 16 (D)Though I had said, “Wisdom is better than force,” yet the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words go unheeded.
17 The quiet words of the wise are better heeded
than the shout of a ruler of fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but one bungler destroys much good.
Footnotes
- 9:1–3 Love from hatred…everything is the same: God seems to bestow divine favor or disfavor (love or hatred) indiscriminately on the just and wicked alike. More ominously, the arbitrariness and inevitability of death and adversity confront every human being, whether good or bad.
- 9:4–6 A live dog…no further recompense: human reason and experience persuaded Qoheleth that death with its finality and annihilating power cruelly negates the supreme value—life, and with it, all possibilities (cf. v. 10). Faith in eternal life has its foundation only in hope and trust in God’s promise and in God’s love.
- 9:7–10 Go, eat your bread…enjoy life: the author confesses his inability to imprison God in a fixed and predictable way of acting. Thus he ponders a practical and pragmatic solution: Seize whatever opportunity one has to find joy, if God grants it.
Ecclesiastes 9
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 9
New International Version
A Common Destiny for All
9 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.(A) 2 All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,[a] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.
As it is with the good,
so with the sinful;
as it is with those who take oaths,
so with those who are afraid to take them.(B)
3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all.(C) The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live,(D) and afterward they join the dead.(E) 4 Anyone who is among the living has hope[b]—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!
5 For the living know that they will die,
but the dead know nothing;(F)
they have no further reward,
and even their name(G) is forgotten.(H)
6 Their love, their hate
and their jealousy have long since vanished;
never again will they have a part
in anything that happens under the sun.(I)
7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine(J) with a joyful heart,(K) for God has already approved what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white,(L) and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife,(M) whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot(N) in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever(O) your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,(P) for in the realm of the dead,(Q) where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.(R)
11 I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,(S)
nor does food come to the wise(T)
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance(U) happen to them all.(V)
12 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(W)
that fall unexpectedly upon them.(X)
Wisdom Better Than Folly
13 I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom(Y) that greatly impressed me: 14 There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. 15 Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man.(Z) 16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.(AA)
17 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded
than the shouts of a ruler of fools.
18 Wisdom(AB) is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner destroys much good.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 9:2 Septuagint (Aquila), Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew does not have and the bad.
- Ecclesiastes 9:4 Or What then is to be chosen? With all who live, there is hope
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.