Ecclesiastes 9:13-18 in English

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.)

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!