| New International Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God's hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them. | 1Indeed, I took all this to heart and explained it all: the righteous, the wise, and their works are in God's hands.People don't know whether to expect love or hate. Everything lies ahead of them. |
| 2All share a common destiny--the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. As it is with the good, so with the sinful; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them. | 2Everything is the same for everyone: there is one 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 sacrifice. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as for the one who takes an oath, so for the one who fears an oath. |
| 3This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. | 3This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: there is one fate for everyone. In addition, the hearts of people are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live--after that they go to the dead. |
| 4Anyone who is among the living has hope --even a live dog is better off than a dead lion! | 4But there is hope for whoever is joined with all the living, since a live dog is better than a dead lion. |
| 5For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten. | 5For the living know that they will die, but the dead don't know anything. There is no longer a reward for them because the memory of them is forgotten. |
| 6Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun. | 6Their love, their hate, and their envy have already disappeared, and there is no longer a portion for them in all that is done under the sun. |
| 7Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. | 7Go, eat your bread with pleasure, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already accepted your works. |
| 8Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. | 8Let your clothes be white all the time, and never let oil be lacking on your head. |
| 9Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun--all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. | 9Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of your fleeting life, which has been given to you under the sun, all your fleeting days. For that is your portion in life and in your struggle under the sun. |
| 10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom. | 10Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going. |
| 11I 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. | 11Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them. |
| 12Moreover, 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. | 12For man certainly does not know his time: like fish caught in a cruel net or like birds caught in a trap, so people are trapped in an evil time as it suddenly falls on them. |
| 13I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: | 13I have observed that this also is wisdom under the sun, and it is significant to me: |
| 14There 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. | 14There was a small city with few men in it. A great king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege works against it. |
| 15Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. | 15Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man. |
| 16So I said, "Wisdom is better than strength." But the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded. | 16And I said, "Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded." |
| 17The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools. | 17The calm words of the wise are heeded more than the shouts of a ruler over fools. |
| 18Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. | 18Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner can destroy much good. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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