Ecclesiastes 9:12-14 in English

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.

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;

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:

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:

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;

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:

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.

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;

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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;

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:

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;

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;

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.)

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;