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, hath 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. [1]
10 Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, where 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 to me great:
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.
CHAP. 10.
Dead flies cause the ointment of the perfumer to send forth a stinking odour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour. [2]
2 A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart is at his left.
3 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. [3]
4 If the spirit of the ruler riseth 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: [4]
6 Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. [5]
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 whoever breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
9 Whoever removeth stones shall be hurt by them; and he that cutteth wood shall be endangered by it.
10 If the iron is blunt, and he doth not whet the edge, then must he use more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.
11 Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better. [6]
12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. [7]
13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. [8]
14 A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him? [9]
15 The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.
16 Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!
17 Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
18 By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.
19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things . [10]
20 Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter. [11]
CHAP. 11.
Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. [12]
2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.
3 If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree falleth toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.
- ↑ Live...: Heb. See, or, Enjoy life
- ↑ Dead...: Heb. Flies of death
- ↑ his...: Heb. his heart
- ↑ from: Heb. from before
- ↑ in great...: Heb. in great heights
- ↑ a babbler: Heb. the master of the tongue
- ↑ gracious: Heb. grace
- ↑ his talk: Heb. his mouth
- ↑ is full...: Heb. multiplieth words
- ↑ maketh...: Heb. maketh glad the life
- ↑ thought: or, conscience
- ↑ upon...: Heb. upon the face of the waters
