Parallel Bible results for "ecclesiastes 9:11-18"

Ecclesiastes 9:11-18

New Living Translation NLT

11 I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.

12 People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy.

13 Here is another bit of wisdom that has impressed me as I have watched the way our world works.

14 There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king came with his army and besieged it.

15 A poor, wise man knew how to save the town, and so it was rescued. But afterward no one thought to thank him.

16 So even though wisdom is better than strength, those who are wise will be despised if they are poor. What they say will not be appreciated for long.

17 Better to hear the quiet words of a wise person than the shouts of a foolish king.

18 Better to have wisdom than weapons of war, but one sinner can destroy much that is good.

New International Version NIV

11 I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.

12 Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.

13 I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me:

14 There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it.

15 Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man.

16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.

17 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools.

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