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10 Work hard at whatever you do, because there will be no action, no thought, no knowledge, no wisdom in the world of the dead—and that is where you are going.

11 I realized another thing, that in this world fast runners do not always win the races, and the brave do not always win the battles. The wise do not always earn a living, intelligent people do not always get rich, and capable people do not always rise to high positions. Bad luck happens to everyone. 12 You never know when your time is coming. Like birds suddenly caught in a trap, like fish caught in a net, we are trapped at some evil moment when we least expect it.

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10 Whatever(A) your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,(B) for in the realm of the dead,(C) where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.(D)

11 I have seen something else under the sun:

The race is not to the swift
    or the battle to the strong,(E)
nor does food come to the wise(F)
    or wealth to the brilliant
    or favor to the learned;
but time and chance(G) happen to them all.(H)

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(I)
    that fall unexpectedly upon them.(J)

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