1For all this I laid to my heart , even to explore all this : that the righteous , and the wise , and their works , are in the hand of God ; whether it be love or hatred , man knoweth it not ; all is before them . 2All things come alike to all : there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked ; to the good and to the clean and to the unclean ; to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not ; as is the good , so is the sinner ; and he that sweareth , as he that feareth an oath . 3This is an evil in all that is done under the sun , that there is one event unto all : yea also , the heart of the sons of men is full of evil , and madness is in their heart while they live , and after that they go to the dead . 4For to him that is joined with all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5For the living know that they shall die : but the dead know not anything , neither have they any more a reward ; for the memory of them is forgotten . 6As well their love, as their hatred and their envy , is perished long ago ; neither have they any more a portion for ever in anything that is done under the sun .
The Value of Life
7Go thy way , eat thy bread with joy , and drink thy wine with a merry heart ; for God hath already accepted thy works . 8Let thy garments be always white ; and let not thy head lack oil . 9Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of thy life of vanity , which he hath given thee under the sun , all thy days of vanity : for that is thy portion in life , and in thy labor wherein thou laborest under the sun . 10Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do , do it with thy might ; for there is no work , nor device , nor knowledge , nor wisdom , in Sheol , whither thou goest .
Wisdom and Opportunity
11I returned , and saw under the sun , that the race is not to the swift , nor the battle to the strong , neither yet bread to the wise , nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill ; but time and chance happeneth to them all . 12For 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 .
The Unpredictability of Life
13I have also seen wisdom under the sun on this wise , and it seemed great unto me : 14There 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 . 15Now 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 . 16Then said I , Wisdom is better than strength : nevertheless the poor man ’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard . 17The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him that ruleth among fools . 18Wisdom is better than weapons of war ; but one sinner destroyeth much good .