| 9:1 | Death Comes to All For I considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them. |
| 9:2 | All things come alike to all: One event happens to the righteous and the wicked; To the good, the clean, and the unclean; To him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner; He who takes an oath as he who fears an oath. |
| 9:3 | This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. |
| 9:4 | But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. |
| 9:5 | For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten. |
| 9:6 | Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share In anything done under the sun. |
| 9:7 | Go, eat your bread with joy, And drink your wine with a merry heart; For God has already accepted your works. |
| 9:8 | Let your garments always be white, And let your head lack no oil. |
| 9:9 | Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun. |
| 9:10 | Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. |
| 9:11 | I returned and saw under the sun that--The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all. |
| 9:12 | For man also does not know his time: Like fish taken in a cruel net, Like birds caught in a snare, So the sons of men are snared in an evil time, When it falls suddenly upon them.Wisdom Superior to Folly |
| 9:13 | This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me: |
| 9:14 | There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great snares around it. |
| 9:15 | Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man. |
| 9:16 | Then I said:"Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, And his words are not heard. |
| 9:17 | Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard Rather than the shout of a ruler of fools. |
| 9:18 | Wisdom is better than weapons of war; But one sinner destroys much good." |