there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is
vanity.
[15] Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat,
and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God
giveth him under the sun.
[16] When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that
is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)
[17] Then
I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because
though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know
it, yet shall he not be able to find it.
Qoh.9
[1] For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and
their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.
[2]
All 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.
[3] This is an evil among all things that
are 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.
[4] For to him that
is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
[5] For the living know
that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory
of them is forgotten.
[6] Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have
they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
[7] Go thy way, eat thy bread
with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
[8] Let thy garments
be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.
[9] Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the
days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that
is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.
[10] Whatsoever thy hand
findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the
grave, whither thou goest.
[11] I 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
favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
[12] For 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; so are the
sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
[13] This wisdom have I seen
also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:
[14] There 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:
[15] Now 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.
[16] Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom
is despised, and his words are not heard.
[17] The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the
cry of him that ruleth among fools.
[18] Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth
much good.
Qoh.10
[1] Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly
him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.
[2] A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's
heart at his left.
[3] Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he
saith to every one that he is a fool.
[4] If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for
yielding pacifieth great offences.
[5] There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which
proceedeth from the ruler:
[6] Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.
[7] I have seen
servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.
[8] He that diggeth a pit shall fall
into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
[9] Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt
therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby.
[10] If the iron be blunt, and he do
not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.
[11] Surely the
serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.
[12] The words of a wise man's mouth
are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.
[13] The beginning of the words of his mouth is