Death Comes to Good and Bad 1 UEB For I thought about all this in my mind to understand about the righteous and wise people and their deeds. They are all in God's hands. No one knows whether love or hate will come to someone. 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 UEB Everyone has the same fate. The same fate awaits righteous people and wicked, the good, the clean and the unclean, and the one who sacrifices and the one who does not sacrifice. As good people will die, so also will the sinner. As the one who swears will die, so also will the man who fears to make an oath. 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 UEB There is an evil fate for everything that is done under the sun, the same event happens to them all. The hearts of human beings are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live. So after that they go to the 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 UEB For anyone who is united to all the living, there is hope, just as a living dog is better than a dead lion. 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 UEB For living people know they will die, but the dead do not know anything. They no longer have any reward because their memory is forgotten. 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 UEB Their love, hatred, and envy have vanished long ago. They will never have a place again in anything done under the sun. 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 UEB Go your way, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of celebrating good works. BSB BSB: Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:
8 UEB Let your clothes be always white and your head anointed with oil. BSB BSB: Let your garments always be white, and never spare the oil for your head.
9 UEB Live happily with the wife whom you love all the days of your life of uselessness, the days that God has given you under the sun during your days of uselessness. That is your reward in life for your work under the sun. 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 UEB Whatever your hand finds to do, work at it with your strength, because there is no work or explanation or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, where you are going. 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 UEB I have seen some interesting things under the sun: The race does not belong to swift people. The battle does not belong to strong people. Bread does not belong to wise people. Riches do not belong to people of understanding. Favor does not belong to people of knowledge. Instead, time and chance affect them all. 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 UEB Surely, no one knows when his time will come. As fish are caught in a deadly net, or birds are caught in a snare, the children of human beings are ensnared by evil times that suddenly fall upon them. 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 UEB I have also seen wisdom under the sun in a way that seemed great to me. BSB BSB: I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me:
14 UEB There was a small city with only a few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it and built great siege ramps against it. 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 UEB Now in the city was found a poor, wise man, who by his wisdom saved the city. Yet later, no one remembered that same poor man. 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 UEB So I concluded, "Wisdom is better than strength, but the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard." 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 UEB The words of wise people spoken quietly are heard better than the shouts of any ruler among fools. BSB BSB: The calm words of the wise are heeded over the shouts of a ruler among fools.
18 UEB Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner can ruin much good. 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.