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People Are in the Hand of God

¹ For I have taken all this to my heart, even to ^(F1)examine ^(F2)it all, that righteous people, wise people, and their deeds are ^(C1)in the hand of God. ^(C2)People do not know whether it will be ^(C3)love or hatred; anything ^(F3)awaits them.

^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 the unclean; for the person who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good person is, so is the sinner; the one who swears an oath is just as the one who ^(F1)is afraid to swear an oath.³ This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun, that there is ^(C1)one fate for everyone. Furthermore, ^(C2)the hearts of the sons of mankind are full of evil, and ^(C3)insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterward they go to the dead.⁴ For whoever is joined to all the living, there is hope; for better a live dog, than a dead lion.⁵ For the living know that they will die; but the dead ^(C1)do not know anything, nor do they have a reward any longer, for their ^(C2)memory is forgotten.⁶ Indeed their love, their hate, and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a ^(C1)share in all that is done under the sun.

⁷ Go then, ^(C1)eat your bread in happiness, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works.⁸ See that your ^(C1)clothes are white all the time, and that there is no lack of ^(C2)oil on your head.^9 (F1)Enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your ^(C1)futile life which He has given you under the sun, ^(F2)all the days of your futility; for this is your ^(C2)reward in life and in your work 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, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in ^(C3)Sheol 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 warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor ^(C3)wealth to the discerning, nor favor to the skillful; for time and ^(C4)chance overtake them all.¹² For indeed, a person does not ^(C1)know his time: like fish that are caught in a treacherous net and ^(C2)birds caught in a snare, so the sons of mankind are ^(C3)ensnared at an evil time when it ^(C4)suddenly falls on them.

¹³ This too I saw as wisdom under the sun, and ^(F1)it impressed me:¹⁴ there ^(C1)was a small city with few men in it, and a great king came to it, surrounded it, and constructed large siegeworks against it.¹⁵ But there was found in it a ^(C1)poor wise man, and he ^(F1)saved the city ^(C2)by his wisdom. Yet ^(C3)no one remembered that poor man.¹⁶ So I said, "^(C1)Wisdom is better than strength." But the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are ^(F1)ignored.¹⁷ The ^(C1)words of the wise heard in calm are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.^18 (C1)Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but ^(C2)one sinner destroys much good.