Ecclesiastes 9:10-14 in English

¹⁰ Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, whither thou goest.

¹¹ 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 happeneth to them all.

¹² For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes 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 falleth suddenly upon them.

¹³ I have also seen wisdom under the sun on this wise, and it seemed great unto me:

¹⁴ There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it.

¹⁰ Whatsoever thine hand shall find to do, do with all thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Hades whither thou goest.

¹¹ I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor yet bread to the wise, nor yet wealth to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of knowledge; for time and chance will happen to them all.

¹² For surely man also knows not his time: as fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as birds that are caught in a snare; even thus the sons of men are snared at an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them.

¹³ This I also saw to be wisdom under the sun, and it is great before me:

¹⁴ suppose there were a little city, and few men in it; and there should come against it a great king, and surround it, and build great mounds against it;

¹⁰ Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

¹¹ 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 favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

¹² For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

¹³ This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

¹⁴ There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:

¹⁰ Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

¹¹ 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 favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

¹² For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

¹³ This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

¹⁴ There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:

¹⁰ Whatsoever your hand shall find to do, do with all your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Hades wither you go.

¹¹ I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor yet bread to the wise, nor yet wealth to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of knowledge; for time and chance will happen to them all.

¹² For surely man also knows not his time: as fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as birds that are caught in a snare; even thus the sons of men are snared at an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them.

¹³ This I also saw to be wisdom under the sun, and it is great before me:

¹⁴ suppose there were a little city, and few men in it; and there should come against it a great king, and surround it, and build great mounds against it;

¹⁰ Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

¹¹ 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 favour to men of skill; but fame and chance happeneth to them all.

¹² For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes 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 falleth suddenly upon them.

¹³ I have also seen wisdom under the sun on this wise, and it seemed great unto me:

¹⁴ There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:

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.

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.

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.

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

¹⁰ Whatsoever your hand shall find to do, do with all your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Hades wither you go.

¹¹ I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor yet bread to the wise, nor yet wealth to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of knowledge; for time and chance will happen to them all.

¹² For surely man also knows not his time: as fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as birds that are caught in a snare; even thus the sons of men are snared at an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them.

¹³ This I also saw to be wisdom under the sun, and it is great before me:

¹⁴ suppose there were a little city, and few men in it; and there should come against it a great king, and surround it, and build great mounds against it;

¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor plan, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.

¹¹ 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 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 I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.

¹⁴ 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.

¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor plan, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.

¹¹ 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 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 I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.

¹⁴ 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.

¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor plan, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.

¹¹ 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 favour to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.

¹² 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 I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.

¹⁴ 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.

¹⁰ Whatever comes to your hand to do with all your power, do it because there is no work, or thought, or knowledge, or wisdom in the place of the dead to which you are going.

¹¹ And again I saw under the sun that the reward goes not to him who is quick, or the fruits of war to the strong; and there is no bread for the wise, or wealth for men of learning, or respect for those who have knowledge; but time and chance come to all.

¹² Even man has no knowledge of his time; like fishes taken in an evil net, or like birds taken by deceit, are the sons of men taken in an evil time when it comes suddenly on them.

¹³ This again I have seen under the sun as wisdom and it seemed great to me.

¹⁴ There was a little town and the number of its men was small, and there came a great king against it and made an attack on it, building works of war round about it.

¹⁰ Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, whither thou goest.

¹¹ 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 the intelligent, nor yet favour to men of knowledge; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

¹² For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are taken with the snare, like them are the children of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

¹³ This also have I seen as wisdom under the sun, and it was great unto me.

¹⁴ There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and encompassed it, and built great bulwarks against it:

¹⁰ Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly: for neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge shall be in hell, whither thou art hastening.

¹¹ I turned me to another thing, and I saw that under the sun, the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the learned, nor favour to the skillful: but time and chance in all.

¹² Man knoweth not his own end: but as fishes are taken with the hook, and as birds are caught with the snare, so men are taken in the evil time, when it shall suddenly come upon them.

¹³ This wisdom also I have seen under the sun, and it seemed to me to be very great:

¹⁴ A little city, and few men in it: there came against it a great king, and invested it, and built bulwarks round about it, and the siege was perfect.

¹⁰ Whatever you do, do it with all your strength, for when you go to the grave there's no more working or thinking, no more knowing or being wise.

¹¹ I thought about other things that happen here on earth. Races are not always won by the fastest runner. Battles are not always decided by the strongest warrior. Also, the wise do not always have food, intelligent people do not always make money, and those who are clever do not always win favor. Time and chance affect all of them.

¹² You can't predict when your end will come. Just like fish caught in a net, or birds caught in a trap, so people are suddenly caught by death when they least expect it.

¹³ Here's another aspect of wisdom that impressed me about what happens here on earth.

¹⁴ Once there was a small town with only a few inhabitants. A powerful king came and besieged the town, building great earth ramps against its walls.

¹⁰ All that thine hand shall finde to doe, doe it with all thy power: for there is neither worke nor inuention, nor knowledge, nor wisedome in the graue whither thou goest.

¹¹ I returned, and I sawe vnder the sunne that the race is not to the swift, nor the battell to the strong, nor yet bread to the wise, nor also riches to men of vnderstanding, neither yet fauour to men of knowledge: but time and chance commeth to them all.

¹² For neither doth man knowe his time, but as the fishes which are taken in an euill net, and as the birdes that are caught in the snare: so are the children of men snared in the euill time when it falleth vpon them suddenly.

¹³ I haue also seene this wisedome vnder the sunne, and it is great vnto me.

¹⁴ A litle citie and fewe men in it, and a great King came against it, and compassed it about, and builded fortes against it.

¹⁰ Whatsoever thy hand attaineth to do by thy strength, that do; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

¹¹ 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 favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

¹² For man also knoweth not his time; as the fishes 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 falleth suddenly upon them.

¹³ This also have I seen as wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

¹⁴ there was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it;

¹⁰ Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

¹¹ 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 favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

¹² For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

¹³ This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

¹⁴ there was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:

¹⁰ Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do with thy might, that do; for there is no work, nor experience, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the nether world, whither thou goest.—

¹¹ I turned about, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the mighty; and that also the wise have no bread, nor yet the men of understanding riches, nor yet men of knowledge favor; but time and fate will overtake them all.

¹² For man also knoweth not his time, like the fishes that are caught in an evil net, and like the birds that are caught in the snare: like these are the sons of men ensnared at an evil time, when it falleth upon them suddenly.

¹³ Also in this manner have I seen wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

¹⁴ There was a little city, and the men therein were few; and there came against it a great king, who enclosed it, and built around it great works of siege;

¹⁰ Whatsoever thy hand shall find to do, Do with all thy might; For there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, Nor wisdom, in Hades whither thou goest.

¹¹ I returned, and saw under the sun, That the race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor yet bread to the wise, Nor yet wealth to men of understanding, Nor yet favor to men of knowledge; For time and chance will happen to them all.

¹² For surely man also knows not his time: As fish that are taken in an evil net, And as birds that are caught in a snare; Even thus the sons of men are snared at an evil time, When it falls suddenly upon them.

¹³ This I also saw to be wisdom under the sun, And it is great before me:

¹⁴ Suppose there were a little city, and few men in it; And there should come against it a great king, and surround it, And build great mounds against it;

¹⁰ Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might! For there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the under-world, whither thou goest.

¹¹ I turned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor yet bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of knowledge; but time and chance happen to them all.

¹² For man knoweth not his time. As fishes that are taken in a destructive net, and as birds that are caught in a snare, so are the sons of men snared in a time of distress, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

¹³ This also have I seen; even wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me.

¹⁴ There was a little city, and few men within it; and a great king came against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it.

¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ 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 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 I have also seen wisdom under the sun in a way that seemed great to me.

¹⁴ 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.

¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor plan, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.

¹¹ 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 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 I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.

¹⁴ 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.

¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor plan, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.

¹¹ 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 favour to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.

¹² 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 I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.

¹⁴ 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.

¹⁰ Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

¹¹ 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 happeneth to them all.

¹² For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

¹³ This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed to me great:

¹⁴ There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:

¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor plan, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.

¹¹ 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 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 I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.

¹⁴ 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.

¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor plan, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.

¹¹ 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 favour to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.

¹² 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 I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.

¹⁴ 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.

¹⁰ Work thou busily, whatever thing thine hand may do; for neither work, neither reason, nor knowing, nor wisdom, shall be at hells or with hell, whither thou hastest.

¹¹ I turned me to another thing, and I saw under the sun, that running or course is not of swift men, neither battle is of strong men, neither bread is of wise men, neither riches be of teachers, nor grace is of craftsmen; but time and hap is in all things.

¹² A man knoweth not his end; but as fishes be taken with an hook, and as birds be taken with a snare, so men be taken in evil time, when it cometh suddenly up on them.

¹³ Also I saw this wisdom under the sun, and I proved it the most.

¹⁴ A little city, and few men therein; a great king came against it, and compassed it with pales, and he builded strongholds, either engines, by compass; and the besieging was made perfect.

¹⁰ Work thou busily, whatever thing thine hand may do; for neither work, neither reason, nor knowing, nor wisdom, shall be at hells, whither thou hastest. (Busily work thou, at whatever thy hands can do; for neither work, nor reason, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, be in the land of the dead, where thou hastenest.)

¹¹ I turned me to another thing, and I saw under the sun, that running is not of swift men, neither battle is of strong men, neither bread is of wise men, neither riches be of teachers, nor grace is of craftsmen; but time and hap is in all things. (I turned me to another thing, and I saw under the sun, that the race is not always to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to those who teach, or favour to the skilled, but timing and happenstance be to everything.)

¹² A man knoweth not his end; but as fishes be taken with an hook, and as birds be taken with a snare, so men be taken in (an) evil time, when it cometh suddenly up on them.

¹³ Also I saw this wisdom under the sun, and I proved it the most.

¹⁴ A little city, and few men therein; a great king came against it, and compassed it with pales, and he builded strongholds, either engines, by compass; and the besieging was made perfect. (There was a small city, with only a few people in it; a great king came against it, and surrounded it with posts, and he built strongholds, or bulwarks, all around it; and so the siege was made perfect.)

¹⁰ All that thy hand findeth to do, with thy power do, for there is no work, and device, and knowledge, and wisdom in Sheol whither thou art going.

¹¹ I have turned so as to see under the sun, that not to the swift is the race, nor to the mighty the battle, nor even to the wise bread, nor even to the intelligent wealth, nor even to the skilful grace, for time and chance happen with them all.

¹² For even man knoweth not his time; as fish that are taken hold of by an evil net, and as birds that are taken hold of by a snare, like these are the sons of man snared at an evil time, when it falleth upon them suddenly.

¹³ This also I have seen: wisdom under the sun, and it is great to me.

¹⁴ A little city, and few men in it, and a great king hath come unto it, and hath surrounded it, and hath built against it great bulwarks;