17AND I SAW <OBJ.> ALL [THE] WORK OF <THE> GOD THAT NOT HE IS ABLE <THE> HUMANKIND TO FIND OUT <OBJ.> THE WORK WHICH IT IS DONE UNDER THE SUN IN THAT <TO> THAT HE TOILS <THE> HUMANKIND TO SEEK AND NOT HE WILL FIND OUT AND ALSO IF HE WILL SAY THE WISE [PERSON] TO KNOW NOT HE WILL BE ABLE TO FIND OUT 17I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.
1FOR <OBJ.> ALL THIS I HAVE GIVEN TO HEART MY AND TO MAKE CLEAR <OBJ.> ALL THIS THAT THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WISE AND DEEDS THEIR [ARE] IN [THE] HAND OF <THE> GOD BOTH LOVE AS WELL AS HATRED NOT [IS] KNOWING <THE> HUMANKIND <THE> EVERYTHING [IS] <TO> BEFORE THEM Death Comes to Good and Bad 1So I took all this to heart and concluded. that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate.
2<THE> ALL [IS] JUST AS FOR <THE> ALL FATE ONE [BELONGS] TO THE RIGHTEOUS AND TO THE WICKED TO THE GOOD AND TO THE EVIL AND TO THE CLEAN AND TO THE UNCLEAN AND TO THE [ONE WHO] SACRIFICES AND TO [ONE] WHO NOT HE [IS] SACRIFICING AS THE GOOD [PERSON] AS THE SINNER THE [ONE WHO] SWEARS AN OATH JUST AS AN OATH [ONE] FEARING 2It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad,*NoteCloseLXX, Syriac, and Vulgate; Hebrew does not include and the bad. for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.
3THIS [IS] AN EVIL IN ALL THAT IT IS DONE UNDER THE SUN FOR FATE ONE [BELONGS] TO <THE> EVERYONE AND ALSO [THE] HEART OF [THE] CHILDREN OF <THE> HUMANKIND [IS] FULL EVIL AND MADNESS [IS] IN HEART THEIR IN LIVES THEIR AND AFTER IT TO THE DEAD 3This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.
4FOR WHO? [IS [THE] ONE] WHO HE IS UNITED TO ALL THE LIVING THERE [IS] HOPE FOR TO A DOG LIVING IT [IS] GOOD MORE THAN THE LION <THE> DEAD 4There is hope, however, for anyone who is among the living; for even a live dog is better than a dead lion.
5FOR THE LIVING [ARE] KNOWING THAT THEY WILL DIE AND THE DEAD NOT THEY [ARE] KNOWING ANYTHING AND NOT STILL [BELONGS] TO <THE> THEM A REWARD FOR IT IS FORGOTTEN MEMORY THEIR 5For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.
6BOTH LOVE THEIR AS WELL AS HATRED THEIR AS WELL AS ENVY THEIR ALREADY IT HAS PERISHED AND A PORTION NOT [BELONGS] TO <THE> THEM AGAIN FOR EVER IN ALL THAT IT IS DONE UNDER THE SUN 6Their love, their hate, and their envy have already vanished, and they will never again have a share in all that is done under the sun.
7GO EAT WITH GLADNESS FOOD YOUR AND DRINK WITH A HEART GOOD WINE YOUR FOR ALREADY HE HAS TAKEN PLEASURE IN <THE> GOD <OBJ.> DEEDS YOUR Enjoy Your Portion in This Life 7Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:
8AT EVERY TIME LET THEM BE CLOTHES YOUR WHITE AND OIL ON HEAD YOUR MAY NOT IT BE LACKING 8Let your garments always be white, and never spare the oil for your head.
9SEE LIFE WITH A WIFE WHOM YOU LOVE ALL [THE] DAYS OF [THE] LIFE OF FUTILITY YOUR WHICH HE HAS GIVEN TO <THE> YOU UNDER THE SUN ALL [THE] DAYS OF FUTILITY YOUR FOR THAT [IS] PORTION YOUR IN <THE> LIFE AND IN TOIL YOUR WHICH YOU [ARE] A LABORER UNDER THE SUN 9Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting*NoteCloseOr futile; twice in this verse life that God has given you under the sun— all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor. under the sun.
10ALL THAT IT FINDS HAND YOUR TO DO WITH STRENGTH YOUR DO FOR THERE NOT [IS] WORK AND EXPLANATION AND KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM IN SHEOL WHERE YOU [ARE] GOING THERE TOWARDS 10Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
11I RETURNED AND I SAW UNDER THE SUN THAT NOT [BELONGS] TO THE SWIFT THE RACE AND NOT [BELONGS] TO THE MIGHTY [MEN] THE BATTLE AND ALSO NOT [BELONGS] TO <THE> WISE [PEOPLE] FOOD AND ALSO NOT [BELONGS] TO THE UNDERSTANDING WEALTH AND ALSO NOT [BELONGS] TO THE KNOWLEDGEABLE FAVOR FOR TIME AND CHANCE IT HAPPENS TO <OBJ.> ALL OF THEM 11I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all.
12FOR ALSO NOT HE KNOWS <THE> HUMANKIND <OBJ.> TIME HIS LIKE <THE> FISH<ES> THAT [ARE] CAUGHT IN A NET EVIL AND LIKE <THE> BIRDS THAT ARE CAUGHT IN <THE> SNARE LIKE <THE> THEM [ARE] ENSNARED [THE] CHILDREN OF <THE> HUMANKIND TO A TIME EVIL WHEN THAT <IT> FALLS ON THEM SUDDENLY 12For surely no man knows his time: Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, so men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them.
13ALSO THIS I HAVE SEEN WISDOM UNDER THE SUN AND [WAS] GREAT IT TO ME Wisdom Is Better than Strength 13I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me:
14A CITY SMALL AND MEN IN <THE> IT [WERE] FEW AND HE CAME AGAINST IT A KING GREAT AND HE SURROUNDED <OBJ.> IT AND HE BUILT ON IT SIEGE WORKS GREAT 14There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it.
15AND SOMEONE FOUND IN <THE> IT A MAN POOR WISE AND HE DELIVERED HE <OBJ.> THE CITY BY WISDOM HIS AND ANYONE NOT HE REMEMBERED <OBJ.> THE MAN <THE> POOR <THE> THAT 15Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.
16AND I SAID I [IS] GOOD WISDOM MORE THAN STRENGTH AND [THE] WISDOM OF THE POOR [PERSON] [IS] DESPISED AND WORDS HIS NOT THEY [ARE] LISTENED TO 16And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”
17[THE] WORDS OF WISE [PEOPLE] IN QUIETNESS [ARE] HEARD MORE THAN [THE] CRY OF A RULER AMONG <THE> FOOLS 17The calm words of the wise are heeded over the shouts of a ruler among fools.
18[IS] GOOD WISDOM MORE THAN WEAPONS OF WAR AND A SINNER ONE HE WILL DESTROY GOOD MUCH 18Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.