Ecclesiastes:9

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* For I gave my mind to all this , even to search out all this , that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God , and yet neither his love nor hatred doth any man know . All is before them . * All as to all . There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked ; to the good , 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 ; he that sweareth , as he that feareth an oath . * This is an evil among all things which take place under the sun , that there is one event to all ; therefore also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil , and madness is in their heart while they live , and afterward they go down to the dead . * For who is there that is excepted ? With all the living there is hope ; for a living dog is better than a dead lion . * For the living know that they shall die ; but the dead know not any thing , and there is no more to them any advantage , for their memory is forgotten . * Their love also , and their hatred , and their envy , is now perished ; neither have they a portion any more for ever in any thing which taketh place under the sun . * Go thy way , eat thy bread with joy , and drink thy wine with a cheerful heart ; for long since hath God been pleased with thy works . * Let thy garments be always white , and let not fragrant oil be wanting upon thy head . * Enjoy life with the wife whom thou lovest , all the days of thy vain life which he hath given thee under the sun , all thy vain days . For this is thy portion in life , and in thy labor with which thou weariest thyself under the sun . * Whatever thy hand findeth to do , do it with thy might ! For there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the under –world , whither thou goest . * I turned and saw under the sun , that the race is not to the swift , nor the battle to the strong , nor yet bread to the wise , nor riches to men of understanding , nor favor to men of knowledge ; but time and chance happen to them all . * For man knoweth not his time . As fishes that are taken in a destructive net , and as birds that are caught in a snare , so are the sons of men snared in a time of distress , when it falleth suddenly upon them . * This also have I seen ; even wisdom under the sun , and it seemed great to me . * There was a little city , and few men within it ; and a great king came against it , and besieged it , and built great bulwarks against it . * Now there was found within it a wise poor man ; and he , by his wisdom , delivered the city ; yet no man remembered that same poor man . * Then said I , "Wisdom is better than strength ;" and yet the poor man ’s wisdom is despised , and his words are not heard . * The quiet words of the wise are sooner heard than the shouting of a foolish ruler . * Wisdom is better than weapons of war . But one offender destroyeth much good .

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