New Living Translation NLT
Hebrew Names Version HNV
1 This, too, I carefully explored: Even though the actions of godly and wise people are in God’s hands, no one knows whether God will show them favor.
1
For all this I laid to my heart, even to explore all this: that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; whether it is love or hatred, man doesn't know it; all is before them.
2 The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether righteous or wicked, good or bad, ceremonially clean or unclean, religious or irreligious. Good people receive the same treatment as sinners, and people who make promises to God are treated like people who don’t.
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All things come alike to all. There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the good, to the clean, to the unclean, to him who sacrifices, and to him who doesn't sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner; he who takes an oath, as he who fears an oath.
3 It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. Already twisted by evil, people choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway.
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This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event to all: yes also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
4 There is hope only for the living. As they say, “It’s better to be a live dog than a dead lion!”
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For to him who is joined with all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
5 The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered.
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For the living know that they will die, but the dead don't know anything, neither do they have any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Whatever they did in their lifetime—loving, hating, envying—is all long gone. They no longer play a part in anything here on earth.
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Also their love, their hatred, and their envy has perished long ago; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.
7 So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this!
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Go your way -- eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works.
8 Wear fine clothes, with a splash of cologne!
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Let your garments be always white, and don't let your head lack oil.
9 Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you under the sun. The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly toil.
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Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your life of vanity, which he has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity: for that is your portion in life, and in your labor in which you labor under the sun.
10 Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
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Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in She'ol, where you are going.
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.
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I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.
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.
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For man also doesn't know his time. As the fish that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly on them.
13 Here is another bit of wisdom that has impressed me as I have watched the way our world works.
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I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.
14 There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king came with his army and besieged it.
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There was a little city, and few men within it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great bulwarks against 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.
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Now a poor wise man was found in it, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
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.
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Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
17 Better to hear the quiet words of a wise person than the shouts of a foolish king.
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The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him who rules among fools.
18 Better to have wisdom than weapons of war, but one sinner can destroy much that is good.
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Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.
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Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.