¹For all this I laid to my heart , even to explore all this : that the righteous , and the wise , and their works , are in the hand of God ; whether it is love or hatred , man doesn’t know it ; all is before them .

²All things come alike to all . There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked ; to the good , to the clean , to the unclean , to him who sacrifices , and to him who doesn’t sacrifice . As is the good , so is the sinner ; he who takes an oath , as he who fears an oath .

³This is an evil in all that is done under the sun , that there is one event to all . Yes also , the heart of the sons of men is full of evil , and madness is in their heart while they live , and after that they go to the dead .

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

⁵For the living know that they will die , but the dead don’t know anything , neither do they have any more a reward ; for their memory is forgotten .

⁶Also their love, their hatred , and their envy has perished long ago ; neither do they any longer have a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun .

⁷Go your way —eat your bread with joy , and drink your wine with a merry heart ; for God has already accepted your works .

⁸Let your garments be always white , and don’t let your head lack oil .

⁹Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your life of vanity , which he has given you under the sun , all your days of vanity , for that is your portion in life , and in your labour in which you labour under the sun .

¹⁰Whatever your hand finds to do , do it with your might ; for there is no work , nor plan, nor knowledge , nor wisdom , in Sheol , where you are going .[#9:10 Sheol is the place of the dead.]

¹¹I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift , nor the battle to the strong , neither yet bread to the wise , nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill ; but time and chance happen to them all .

¹²For man also doesn’t know his time . As the fish that are taken in an evil net , and as the birds that are caught in the snare , even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time , when it falls suddenly on them .

¹³I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me .

¹⁴There was a little city , and few men within it ; and a great king came against it , besieged it , and built great bulwarks against it .

¹⁵Now a poor wise man was found in it , and he by his wisdom delivered the city ; yet no man remembered that same poor man .

¹⁶Then I said , “Wisdom is better than strength .” Nevertheless the poor man ’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard .

¹⁷The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him who rules amongst fools .

¹⁸Wisdom is better than weapons of war ; but one sinner destroys much good .