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this I have taken to heart and searched out, and I have concluded that the righteous and the wise, and all their works, are in God’s hands. However, people do not know whether love or hate await them, for everything lies ahead of them. 2 It is the same for everyone; there is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good and for the bad; for the clean and for the unclean; for those who sacrifice and for those who do not sacrifice.
As it is for the good,
so it is for the sinner;
as it is for those who take an oath,
so it is with those who are afraid to take an oath.
3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun; there is one fate that comes to all. Moreover, the hearts of people are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But there is hope for those who are still joined with the living, for 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;
they have no further reward,
and soon even the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Their love, their hate, and their jealousy
have all long since perished;
never again will they have a portion
of anything that is done under the sun.
7 So go your way, eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already accepted your works. 8 Let your garments always be white, and never allow oil to be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of this fleeting life that God has given you under the sun. For that is your portion in this life and in your toil that you labour at under the sun. 10 Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, for there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, where you are going.
11 I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift,
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise,
or riches to men of understanding,
or favour to men of skill;
but time and chance happen to them all.
12 For man certainly does not know his time:
As fish are caught in a cruel net,
and as birds are trapped in a snare,
so men are trapped in an evil time,
when it suddenly falls on them.
13 I have also seen under the sun this wisdom that strongly impressed me. 14 There was a small city with only a few people in it. And a great king came against it, surrounded it, and built enormous siegeworks against it. 15 Now a poor wise man lived in that city, and he delivered that city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heeded.”
17 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded
that the shouts of a ruler of fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner destroys much good.