Ecclesiastes 9:12-18 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.

¹⁵ Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

¹⁶ Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

¹⁷ The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroyeth much good.

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;

¹⁵ and should find in it a poor wise man, and he should save the city through his wisdom: yet no man would remember that poor man.

¹⁶ And I said, Wisdom is better than power: yet the wisdom of the poor man is set at nought, and his words not listened to.

¹⁷ The words of the wise are heard in quiet more than the cry of them that rule in folly.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war: and one sinner will destroy much good.

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:

¹⁵ Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

¹⁶ Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

¹⁷ The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

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:

¹⁵ Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

¹⁶ Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

¹⁷ The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

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;

¹⁵ and should find in it a poor wise man, and he should save the city through his wisdom: yet no man would remember that poor man.

¹⁶ And I said Wisdom is better than power: yet the wisdom of the poor man is set at nothing, and his words not listened to.

¹⁷ The words of the wise are heard in quiet more than the cry of them that rule in folly.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war: and one sinner will destroy much good.

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:

¹⁵ Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

¹⁶ Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

¹⁷ The words of the wise spoken in quiet are heard more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

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.

¹⁵ In that town there was a man who was poor but very wise. Because of doing what that man suggested, the town was saved; but people soon forgot about him.

¹⁶ So I realized that although being wise is better than being strong, if you are poor, no one will appreciate what you do, and people will soon forget what you said.

¹⁷ Speaking quietly what is very wise is much more sensible than a king shouting to foolish people.

¹⁸ Being wise is more useful than a lot of weapons; but if you do one foolish thing, it is possible that because of doing that, you will ruin all the good things that you have done.

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;

¹⁵ and should find in it a poor wise man, and he should save the city through his wisdom: yet no man would remember that poor man.

¹⁶ And I said Wisdom is better than power: yet the wisdom of the poor man is set at nothing, and his words not listened to.

¹⁷ The words of the wise are heard in quiet more than the cry of them that rule in folly.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war: and one sinner will destroy much good.

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.

¹⁵ 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 Then I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

¹⁷ The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him who rules among fools.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.

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.

¹⁵ 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 Then I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

¹⁷ The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him who rules among fools.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.

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.

¹⁵ 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 Then I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

¹⁷ The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him who rules amongst fools.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.

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.

¹⁵ Now there was in the town a poor, wise man, and he, by his wisdom, kept the town safe. But no one had any memory of that same poor man.

¹⁶ Then I said, Wisdom is better than strength, but the poor man's wisdom is not respected, and his words are not given a hearing.

¹⁷ The words of the wise which come quietly to the ear are noted more than the cry of a ruler among the foolish.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than instruments of war, but one sinner is the destruction of much good.

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:

¹⁵ and there was found in it a poor wise man, who by his wisdom delivered the city; but no man remembered that poor man.

¹⁶ Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength; but the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

¹⁷ The words of the wise are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroyeth much good.

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.

¹⁵ Now there was found in it a man poor and wise, and he delivered the city by his wisdom, and no man afterward remembered that poor man.

¹⁶ And I said that wisdom is better than strength: how then is the wisdom of the poor man slighted, and his words not heard?

¹⁷ The words of the wise are heard in silence, more than the cry of a prince among fools.

¹⁸ Better is wisdom, than weapons of war: and he that shall offend in one, shall lose many good things.

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.

¹⁵ In that town lived a man who was wise, but poor. He saved the town by his wisdom. But no one remembered to thank that poor man.

¹⁶ As I've always said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” Yet the wisdom of that poor man was dismissed—people didn't pay attention to what he said.

¹⁷ It's better to listen to the calm words of a wise person than the shouts of a ruler of fools.

¹⁸ It's better to have wisdom than weapons of war; but a sinner can destroy a lot of good.

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.

¹⁵ And there was founde therein a poore and wise man, and he deliuered the citie by his wisedome: but none remembred this poore man.

¹⁶ Then said I, Better is wisdome then strength: yet the wisedome of the poore is despised, and his wordes are not heard.

¹⁷ The wordes of the wise are more heard in quietnes, then the crye of him that ruleth among fooles.

¹⁸ Better is wisedome then weapons of warre: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

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;

¹⁵ now there was found in it a man poor and wise, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

¹⁶ Then said I: 'Wisdom is better than strength; nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.'

¹⁷ The words of the wise spoken in quiet are more acceptable than the cry of a ruler among fools.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroyeth much good.

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:

¹⁵ now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

¹⁶ Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

¹⁷ The words of wise men are heard in quiet, more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

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;

¹⁵ But there was found in it a poor wise man, and he delivered the city by his wisdom; yet no man had thought of that same poor man.

¹⁶ Then said I, Wisdom is better than might: although the poor man's wisdom is held in contempt, and his words are not heard.

¹⁷ The words of wise men heard in quiet are better than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner causes much good to be lost.

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;

¹⁵ And should find in it a poor wise man, And he should save the city through his wisdom: Yet no man would remember that poor man.

¹⁶ And I said, Wisdom is better than power: Yet the wisdom of the poor man is set at nought, And his words not listened to.

¹⁷ The words of the wise are heard in quiet More than the cry of them that rule in folly.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war: And one sinner will destroy much good.

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.

¹⁵ Now there was found within it a wise poor man; and he, by his wisdom, delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

¹⁶ Then said I, “Wisdom is better than strength;” and yet the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

¹⁷ The quiet words of the wise are sooner heard than the shouting of a foolish ruler.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war. But one offender destroyeth much good.

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.

¹⁵ Now in the city was found a poor, wise man, who by his wisdom saved the city. Yet later, no one remembered that same poor man.

¹⁶ So I concluded, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.”

¹⁷ The words of wise people spoken quietly are heard better than the shouts of any ruler among fools.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner can ruin much good.

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.

¹⁵ 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 Then I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

¹⁷ The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him who rules among fools.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.

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.

¹⁵ 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 Then I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

¹⁷ The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him who rules amongst fools.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.

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:

¹⁵ Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

¹⁶ Then said I, wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

¹⁷ The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

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.

¹⁵ 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 Then I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

¹⁷ The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him who rules among fools.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.

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.

¹⁵ 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 Then I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

¹⁷ The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him who rules amongst fools.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.

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.

¹⁵ And a poor man and a wise was found therein; and he delivered the city by his wisdom, and no man bethought afterward on that poor man.

¹⁶ And I said, that wisdom is better than strength; how therefore is the wisdom of a poor man despised, and his words be not heard?

¹⁷ The words of wise men be heard in silence, more than the cry of a prince among fools.

¹⁸ Better is wisdom than armours or arms of battle; and he that sinneth in one thing, shall lose many goods.

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.)

¹⁵ And a poor man and a wise was found therein; and he delivered the city by his wisdom, and no man bethought afterward on that poor man. (And a poor but wise man was found there; and he saved the city by his wisdom, but afterward no one thought much about that poor man.)

¹⁶ And I said, that wisdom is better than strength; how therefore is the wisdom of a poor man despised, and his words be not heard? (And I have always said, that wisdom is better than strength; and so why is the wisdom of a poor man despised, and his words not listened to?)

¹⁷ The words of wise men be heard in silence, more than the cry of a prince among fools. (The words of the wise should be heard in silence, much more than the loud cry of a leader of a group of fools.)

¹⁸ Better is wisdom than armours of battle; and he that sinneth in one thing, shall lose many goods. (Better is wisdom than the arms, or the weapons, of battle; and he who sinneth in one thing, shall lose much that is good.)

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;

¹⁵ and there hath been found in it a poor wise man, and he hath delivered the city by his wisdom, and men have not remembered that poor man!

¹⁶ And I said, 'Better is wisdom than might, and the wisdom of the poor is despised, and his words are not heard.' —

¹⁷ The words of the wise in quiet are heard, More than the cry of a ruler over fools.

¹⁸ Better is wisdom than weapons of conflict, And one sinner destroyeth much good!