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Men Are in the Hand of God

¹ For I have taken all this to heart, exploring and examining it all, how the righteous (those in right standing with God) and the wise and their deeds are ^(C1)in the hands of God. ^(C2)No man knows whether it will be ^(C3)love or hatred; anything awaits him.

^2 (C1)It is the same for all. There is ^(C2)one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers sacrifices and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as he who swears an oath is, so is he who is afraid to swear an oath.³ This evil is in all that is done under the sun, that ^(C1)one fate comes to all. Also, ^(C2)the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil, and ^(C3)madness is in their hearts while they live, and afterwards they go to the dead.⁴ There is no exemption, but whoever is joined with all the living, has hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion.⁵ For the living know that they will die; but the dead ^(C1)know nothing, and they no longer have a reward here, for the ^(C2)memory of them is forgotten.⁶ Indeed their love, their hatred and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a ^(C1)share in this age in anything that is done under the sun.

⁷ Go your way, ^(C1)eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a cheerful heart if you are righteous, wise, and in the hands of God; for God has already approved and accepted your works.⁸ Let your ^(C1)clothes always be white with purity, and do not let the ^(C2)oil of gladness be lacking on your head.⁹ Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your ^(C1)fleeting life which He has given you under the sun—all the days of vanity and futility. For this is your ^(C2)reward in life and in your work in which you have labored under the sun.

Whatever Your Hand Finds to Do

¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, ^(C1)do it with all your might; for there is no ^(C2)activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in ^(C3)Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) where you are going.

¹¹ I again saw under the sun that the ^(C1)race is not to the swift and the ^(C2)battle is not to the strong, and neither is bread to the wise nor ^(C3)riches to those of intelligence and understanding nor favor to men of ability; but time and ^(C4)chance overtake them all. ^(VR1)12 For man also does not ^(C1)know his time of death; like fish caught in a treacherous net, and ^(C2)birds caught in the snare, so the sons of men ^(C3)are ensnared in an evil time when a dark cloud ^(C4)suddenly falls on them.

¹³ This illustration of wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and great it was to me:¹⁴ There ^(C1)was a little city with few men in it and a great king came against it and besieged it and built great battlements against it.¹⁵ But there was found in it a ^(C1)poor wise man, and ^(C2)by his wisdom he rescued the city. Yet ^(C3)no man seriously remembered that poor man.¹⁶ But I say that ^(C1)wisdom is better than strength, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heeded.¹⁷ The ^(C1)words of wise men heard in quietness are better than the shouting of one who rules among fools.^18 (C1)Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but ^(C2)one sinner destroys much good.