Ecclesiastes 9-10

Ecclesiastes 9

¹All this I took to heart, and my heart saw it all: that the upright and the wise and their works are in the hand of God; and men may not be certain if it will be love or hate; all is to no purpose before them.

²Because to all there is one event, to the upright man and to the evil, to the clean and to the unclean, to him who makes an offering and to him who makes no offering; as is the good so is the sinner; he who takes an oath is as he who has fear of it.

³This is evil in all things which are done under the sun: that there is one fate for all, and the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; while they have life their hearts are foolish, and after that — to the dead.

⁴For him who is joined to all the living there is hope; a living dog is better than a dead lion.

⁵The living are conscious that death will come to them, but the dead are not conscious of anything, and they no longer have a reward, because there is no memory of them.

⁶Their love and their hate and their envy are now ended; and they have no longer a part for ever in anything which is done under the sun.

⁷Come, take your bread with joy, and your wine with a glad heart. God has taken pleasure in your works.

⁸Let your clothing be white at all times, and let not your head be without oil.

⁹Have joy with the woman of your love all the days of your foolish life which he gives you under the sun. Because that is your part in life and in your work which you do under the sun.

¹⁰Whatever comes to your hand to do with all your power, do it because there is no work, or thought, or knowledge, or wisdom in the place of the dead to which you are going.

¹¹And again I saw under the sun that the reward goes not to him who is quick, or the fruits of war to the strong; and there is no bread for the wise, or wealth for men of learning, or respect for those who have knowledge; but time and chance come to all.

¹²Even man has no knowledge of his time; like fishes taken in an evil net, or like birds taken by deceit, are the sons of men taken in an evil time when it comes suddenly on them.

¹³This again I have seen under the sun as wisdom and it seemed great to me.

¹⁴There was a little town and the number of its men was small, and there came a great king against it and made an attack on it, building works of war round about it.

¹⁵Now there was in the town a poor, wise man, and he, by his wisdom, kept the town safe. But no one had any memory of that same poor man.

¹⁶Then I said, Wisdom is better than strength, but the poor man's wisdom is not respected, and his words are not given a hearing.

¹⁷The words of the wise which come quietly to the ear are noted more than the cry of a ruler among the foolish.

¹⁸Wisdom is better than instruments of war, but one sinner is the destruction of much good.

Ecclesiastes 10

¹Dead flies make the oil of the perfumer give out an evil smell; more valued is a little wisdom than the great glory of the foolish.

²The heart of the wise man goes in the right direction; but the heart of a foolish man in the wrong.

³And when the foolish man is walking in the way, he has no sense and lets everyone see that he is foolish.

⁴If the wrath of the ruler is against you, keep in your place; in him who keeps quiet even great sins may be overlooked.

⁵There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, like an error which comes by chance from a ruler:

⁶The foolish are placed in high positions, but men of wealth are kept low.

⁷I have seen servants on horses, and rulers walking on the earth as servants.

⁸He who makes a hole for others will himself go into it, and for him who makes a hole through a wall the bite of a snake will be a punishment.

⁹He who gets out stones from the earth will be damaged by them, and in the cutting of wood there is danger.

¹⁰If the iron has no edge, and he does not make it sharp, then he has to put out more strength; but wisdom makes things go well.

¹¹If a snake gives a bite before the word of power is said, then there is no longer any use in the word of power.

¹²The words of a wise man's mouth are sweet to all, but the lips of a foolish man are his destruction.

¹³The first words of his mouth are foolish, and the end of his talk is evil crime.

¹⁴The foolish are full of words; man has no knowledge of what will be; and who is able to say what will be after him?

¹⁵The work of the foolish will be a weariness to him, because he has no knowledge of the way to the town.

¹⁶Unhappy is the land whose king is a boy, and whose rulers are feasting in the morning.

¹⁷Happy is the land whose ruler is of noble birth, and whose chiefs take food at the right time, for strength and not for feasting.

¹⁸When no work is done the roof goes in, and when the hands do nothing water comes into the house.

¹⁹A feast is for laughing, and wine makes glad the heart; but by the one and the other money is wasted.

²⁰Say not a curse against the king, even in your thoughts; and even secretly say not a curse against the man of wealth; because a bird of the air will take the voice, and that which has wings will give news of it.