Death Comes to Good and Bad 1 UDB I thought about all those things, and I decided that God controls what happens to everyone, even those who are wise and those who are righteous. No one knows whether others will love them or whether they will hate them. BSB BSB: So 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.
2 UDB But we know that some time in the future we will all die. It does not matter whether we act righteously or wickedly, whether we are good or whether we are bad, whether we are acceptable for worshiping God or whether we have done things to cause us to be unacceptable. It does not matter if we offer sacrifices to God or if we do not. It does not matter if we do what we have promised God that we will do or if we do not. We all die. The same thing will happen to good people and to sinful people, to those who solemnly promise to do things for God and to those who are afraid to make such promises. BSB BSB: It 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.
3 UDB It seems wrong that the same thing happens to everyone on this earth. Everyone dies. Furthermore, people's inner beings are full of evil. People do foolish things while they are alive, and then they join those who are dead. BSB BSB: This 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.
4 UDB While we are alive, we can expect that good things will happen to us. We despise dogs, but it is better to be a dog that is alive than to be a majestic lion that is dead. BSB BSB: There is hope, however, for anyone who is among the living; for even a live dog is better than a dead lion.
5 UDB We who are alive know that we will all die, but dead people do not know anything. Dead people do not receive any more rewards, and people soon forget them. BSB BSB: For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.
6 UDB While they were alive, they loved people, they hated people, they envied people, but they stop doing any of that when they die. They will never again be a part of anything that happens here on the earth. BSB BSB: Their 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.
Enjoy Your Portion in This Life 7 UDB So I say, be joyful while you eat your food and drink your wine, because that is what God wants you to do. BSB BSB: Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:
8 UDB Wear nice clothes and cause your face to have a good appearance. BSB BSB: Let your garments always be white, and never spare the oil for your head.
9 UDB Enjoy living with your wife whom you love, all during the time that God has given to you to be alive here on this earth. Even though it is difficult to understand why many things happen, this life with your wife is your reward for doing the work that you do here on this earth. BSB BSB: Enjoy 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.
10 UDB Whatever you are able to do, do it with all your energy, because at some point you will die, and in the place of the dead where you are going, no one works or plans to do anything or knows anything or has any wisdom. BSB BSB: Whatever 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.
11 UDB I have seen something else here on the earth: The person who runs fastest does not always win the race, the strongest soldiers do not always win the battle, the wisest people do not always have food, the smartest people do not always become rich, and the people who have studied a lot are not always honored by others. We cannot always control what things will happen to us and where they will happen. BSB BSB: I 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.
12 UDB No one knows when he will die. Fish are cruelly caught in a net, and birds are caught in snares. Similarly, people experience disasters at times when they do not expect them to happen. BSB BSB: For 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.
Wisdom Is Better than Strength 13 UDB Once I saw here on this earth something that a wise man did that impressed me. BSB BSB: I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me:
14 UDB There was a small town, where only a few people lived. The army of a great king came to that town and surrounded it. They built dirt ramps up against the walls in order to climb up and attack the town. BSB BSB: There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it.
15 UDB In that town there was someone who was poor but very wise. Because of what that person suggested, the town was saved, but people soon forgot about him. BSB BSB: Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.
16 UDB So I realized that although being wise is better than being strong, if you are poor, no one will appreciate what you do, and people will soon forget what you said. BSB BSB: And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”
17 UDB A wise man who speaks quietly—people hear him better than they hear a king who is shouting to a foolish crowd. BSB BSB: The calm words of the wise are heeded over the shouts of a ruler among fools.
18 UDB Being wise is more useful than having a lot of weapons; however, if a person does just one foolish thing, he might ruin many good things that others have done. BSB BSB: Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.