Ecclesiastes 9:10-18

10 Whatever your hand finds to do, 1do it with your might,[a]2for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

Wisdom Better than Folly

11 3Again I saw that under the sun 4the race is not to the swift, nor 5the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and 6chance 7happen to them all.
12 For man 8does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and 9like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are 10snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.
13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me.
14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it.
15 But there was found in it 11a poor, wise man, and he by his 12wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man.
16 But I say that 13wisdom is better than might, though 14the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.
17 The words of the wise heard in 15quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.
18 16Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but 17one sinner destroys much good.

Cross References 17

  • 1. Romans 12:11; Colossians 3:23
  • 2. [ver. 5]
  • 3. Ecclesiastes 4:1, 7
  • 4. Amos 2:14, 15; [Romans 9:16]
  • 5. [2 Chronicles 20:15; Jeremiah 9:23]
  • 6. [1 Kings 22:34]
  • 7. See Ecclesiastes 2:14
  • 8. [Ecclesiastes 8:7]
  • 9. Proverbs 7:23
  • 10. [Proverbs 29:6; Ezekiel 12:13; Hosea 7:12; Luke 21:34, 35; 1 Thessalonians 5:3]
  • 11. [Ecclesiastes 4:13]
  • 12. ver. 18; [2 Samuel 20:22]
  • 13. See Ecclesiastes 7:19
  • 14. [Mark 6:2, 3]
  • 15. Ecclesiastes 4:6
  • 16. ver. 16
  • 17. [Joshua 7:1]

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Or finds to do with your might, do it
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.