Ecclesiastes/Qohelet 9

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Yes, I have applied myself to all this and experienced all this to be so: that is to say, that the upright andthe wise, with their activities, are in the hands of God. We do not understand either love or hate, where we areconcerned, both of them are	1 All this I have kept in mind and recognized: the just, the wise, and their deeds are in the hand of God. Love from hatred man cannot tell; both appear equally vain,
2 futile. And for all of us is reserved a common fate, for the upright and for the wicked, for the good andfor the bad; whether we are ritually pure or not, whether we offer sacrifice or not: it is the same for the good andfor the sinner, for someone who takes a vow, as for someone who fears to do so.	2 in that there is the same lot for all, for the just and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for him who offers sacrifice and him who does not. As it is for the good man, so it is for the sinner; as it is for him who swears rashly, so it is for him who fears an oath.
3 This is another evil among those occurring under the sun: that there should be the same fate foreveryone. The human heart, however, is ful of wickedness; fol y lurks in our hearts throughout our lives, until weend among the dead.	3 Among all the things that happen under the sun, this is the worst, that things turn out the same for all. Hence the minds of men are filled with evil, and madness is in their hearts during life; and afterward they go to the dead.
4 But there is hope for someone stil linked to the rest of the living: better be a live dog than a dead lion.	4 Indeed, for any among the living there is hope; a live dog is better off than a dead lion.
5 The living are at least aware that they are going to die, but the dead know nothing whatever. No morewages for them, since their memory is forgotten.	5 For the living know that they are to die, but the dead no longer know anything. There is no further recompense for them, because all memory of them is lost.
6 Their love, their hate, their jealousy, have perished long since, and they wil never have any further partin what goes on under the sun.	6 For them, love and hatred and rivalry have long since perished. They will never again have part in anything that is done under the sun.
7 So, eat your bread in joy, drink your wine with a glad heart, since God has already approved youractions.	7 Go, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart, because it is now that God favors your works.
8 At al times, dress in white and keep your head wel scented.	8 At all times let your garments be white, and spare not the perfume for your head.
9 Spend your life with the woman you love, all the days of futile life God gives you under the sun,throughout your futile days, since this is your lot in life and in the effort you expend under the sun.	9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of the fleeting life that is granted you under the sun. This is your lot in life, for the toil of your labors under the sun.
10 Whatever work you find to do, do it with al your might, for there is neither achievement, nor planning,nor science, nor wisdom in Sheol where you are going.	10 Anything you can turn your hand to, do with what power you have; for there will be no work, nor reason, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the nether world where you are going....
11 Another thing I have observed under the sun: that the race is not won by the speediest, nor the battleby the champions; it is not the wise who get food, nor the intel igent wealth, nor the learned favour: chance andmischance befall them all.	11 Again I saw under the sun that the race is not won by the swift, nor the battle by the valiant, nor a livelihood by the wise, nor riches by the shrewd, nor favor by the experts; for a time of calamity comes to all alike.
12 We do not know when our time will come: like fish caught in the treacherous net, like birds caught inthe snare, just so are we al trapped by misfortune when it suddenly overtakes us.	12 Man no more knows his own time than fish taken in the fatal net, or birds trapped in the snare; like these the children of men are caught when the evil time falls suddenly upon them.
13 Here is another example of the wisdom I have acquired under the sun and it strikes me as important:	13 On the other hand I saw this wise deed under the sun, which I thought sublime.
14 There was once a smal town, with only a few inhabitants; a mighty king made war on it, laying siege toit and building great siege-works round it.	14 Against a small city with few men in it advanced a mighty king, who surrounded it and threw up great siegeworks about it.
15 But there was in that town a poverty-stricken sage who by his wisdom saved the town. No oneremembered this poor man afterwards.	15 But in the city lived a man who, though poor, was wise, and he delivered it through his wisdom. Yet no one remembered this poor man.
16 So I say: Wisdom is more effective than brute force, but the wisdom of a poor man is not valued: noone listens to what he has to say.	16 Though I had said, "Wisdom is better than force," yet the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words go unheeded.
17 The calm words of the wise make themselves heard above the shouts of someone commanding anarmy of fools.	17 "The quiet words of the wise are better heeded than the shout of a ruler of fools"--!
18 Wisdom is worth more than weapons of war, but a single sin undoes a deal of good.	18 "A fly that dies can spoil the perfumer's ointment, and a single slip can ruin much that is good."