| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New Living Translation |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1This, too, I carefully explored: Even though the actions of godly and wise people are in God’s hands, no one knows whether God will show them favor. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether righteous or wicked, good or bad, ceremonially clean or unclean, religious or irreligious. Good people receive the same treatment as sinners, and people who make promises to God are treated like people who don’t. |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. Already twisted by evil, people choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway. |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4There is hope only for the living. As they say, “It’s better to be a live dog than a dead lion!” |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6Whatever they did in their lifetime—loving, hating, envying—is all long gone. They no longer play a part in anything here on earth. |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this! |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8Wear fine clothes, with a splash of cologne! |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you under the sun. The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly toil. |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom. |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time. |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy. Thoughts on Wisdom and Folly |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13Here is another bit of wisdom that has impressed me as I have watched the way our world works. |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king came with his army and besieged it. |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15A poor, wise man knew how to save the town, and so it was rescued. But afterward no one thought to thank him. |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16So even though wisdom is better than strength, those who are wise will be despised if they are poor. What they say will not be appreciated for long. |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17Better to hear the quiet words of a wise person than the shouts of a foolish king. |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18Better to have wisdom than weapons of war, but one sinner can destroy much that is good. |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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