Ecclesiastes 9

1 I thought about all those things, and I concluded 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.

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.

2 [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.

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.

3 It seems wrong that the same thing happens to everyone on this earth: Everyone dies [EUP]. Furthermore, people’s inner beings are full of evil. People do foolish things while they are alive, and then they die and join those who are already dead.

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.

4 While we are alive, we confidently 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.

For anyone who is united to all the living, there is hope, just as a living dog is better than a dead lion.

5 We who are alive know that [some day] we will die, but dead people do not know anything. Dead people do not receive any more rewards, and people soon forget them.

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.

6 [While they were alive], they loved [some people], they hated [some people], they envied [some people], but that all ends when they die. They will never again be a part of anything that happens here on the earth.

Their love, hatred, and envy have vanished long ago. They will never have a place again in anything done under the sun.

7 [So I say], be joyful [DOU] while you eat your food and drink your wine, because that is what God wants you to do.

Go your way, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of celebrating good works.

8 Wear nice [MTY] clothes and make your face look nice.

Let your clothes be always white and your head anointed with oil.

9 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. And even though it is difficult to understand why many things happen, enjoy doing the work that you do here on this earth.

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.

10 Whatever you are able to do, do it with all your energy, because [some time 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 is wise. (Sheol h7585)

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. (Sheol h7585)

11 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 people who have studied a lot are not [always] (honored/treated very specially) by others; we cannot [always] control what things will happen to us and where they will happen.

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.

12 No one knows when he will die [EUP]; fish are cruelly caught in a net, and birds are caught in snares/traps; similarly [SIM], people experience disasters at times when they do not expect them to happen.

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.

13 Once I saw something that a wise man did that impressed me.

I have also seen wisdom under the sun in a way that seemed great to me.

14 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.

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.

15 In that town there was a man who was poor but very wise. Because of doing what that man [suggested], the town was saved; but people [soon] forgot about him.

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.

16 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.

So I concluded, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.”

17 Speaking quietly what is [very] wise is [much] more sensible than a king shouting to foolish people.

The words of wise people spoken quietly are heard better than the shouts of any ruler among fools.

18 Being wise is more useful than [a lot of] weapons; but if you do one foolish thing, [it is possible that] because of doing that, you will ruin all the good things that you have done.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner can ruin much good.