Ecclesiastes 9

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

The narrator observes that all people share a common fate under the sun, whether righteous or wicked, because death comes to everyone alike. While the living are conscious of their eventual death, the dead know nothing and are forgotten, having no further share in worldly activities. The text advises eating bread with joy, wearing white garments, anointing the head with oil, and enjoying life with a wife. Furthermore, people should work diligently with their hands since there is no work or planning in Sheol, and recognize that time and chance happen to all. Finally, the narrator recounts a small city besieged by a mighty king, which a poor wise man saved through his wisdom, though the man was ultimately forgotten.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate. ²It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices 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 makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow. ³This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead. ⁴There is hope, however, for anyone who is among the living; for even a live dog is better than a dead lion. ⁵For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten. ⁶Their love, their hate, and their envy have already vanished, and they will never again have a share in all that is done under the sun. ⁷Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works: ⁸Let your garments always be white, and never spare the oil for your head. ⁹Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun. ¹⁰Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom. ¹¹I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all. ¹²For surely no man knows his time: Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, so men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them. ¹³I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me: ¹⁴There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it. ¹⁵Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man. ¹⁶And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.” ¹⁷The calm words of the wise are heeded over the shouts of a ruler among fools. ¹⁸Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.