1   I applied my mind to all this, and I understood that the righteous and the wise and all their doings are under God's control; but is it love or hatred? No man knows. Everything that confronts him, everything is empty, ^note 2   since one and the same fate befalls every one, just and unjust alike, good and bad, ^note clean and unclean, the man who offers sacrifice and the man who does not. Good man and sinner fare alike, the man who can take an oath and the man who dares not. 3   This is what is wrong in all that is done here under the sun: that one and the same fate befalls every man. The hearts of men are full of evil; madness fills their hearts all through their lives, and after that they go down ^note to join the dead. 4   But for a man who is counted among the living there is still hope: remember, a live dog is better than a dead lion. 5   True, the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing. There are no more rewards for them; they are utterly forgotten. 6   For them love, hate,

Wisdom and folly compared ambition, ^note all are now over. Never again will they have any part in what is done here under the sun.

7   Go to it then, eat your food and enjoy it, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for already God has accepted what you have done. 8    9   Always be dressed in white and never fail to anoint your head. Enjoy life with a woman you love all the days of your allotted span here under the sun, empty as they are; ^note for that is your lot while you live and labour here under the sun. 10   Whatever task lies to your hand, do it with all your might; because in Sheol, for which you are bound, there is neither doing nor thinking, neither understanding nor wisdom. 11   One more thing I have observed here under the sun: speed does not win the race nor strength the battle. Bread does not belong to the wise, nor wealth to the intelligent, nor success to the skilful; time and chance govern all. 12   Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come; like fish caught in a net, ^note like a bird taken in a snare, so men are trapped when bad times come suddenly.

13   This too is an example of wisdom as I have observed it here under the sun, and notable I find it. 14   There was a small town with few inhabitants, and a great king came to attack it; he besieged it and constructed great siege-works ^note against it. 15   There was in it a poor wise man, and he alone might have saved the town by his wisdom, but no one remembered that poor wise man. 16   ‘Surely’, I said to myself, ‘wisdom is better than strength.’ But the poor man's wisdom was despised, and his words went unheeded. 17   A wise man who speaks his mind calmly is more to be heeded than a commander shouting orders among fools. 18   Wisdom is better than weapons of war, and one mistake can undo many things done well.

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