Ecclesiastes:9
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For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this ,
that the righteous ,
and the wise ,
and their works ,
are in the hand of God :
no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them .
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All things come alike to all :
there is one event to the righteous ,
and to the wicked ;
to the good and 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 ;
and he that sweareth ,
as he that feareth an oath .
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This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun ,
that there is one event unto all :
yea ,
also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil ,
and madness is in their heart while they live ,
and after that they go to the dead .
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For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope :
for a living dog is better than a dead lion .
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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 .
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Also their love ,
and their hatred ,
and their envy ,
is now perished ;
neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun .
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Go thy way ,
eat thy bread with joy ,
and drink thy wine with a merry heart ;
for God now accepteth thy works .
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Let thy garments be always white ;
and let thy head lack no ointment .
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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 .
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Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do ,
do it with thy might ;
for there is no work ,
nor device ,
nor knowledge ,
nor wisdom ,
in the grave ,
whither thou goest .
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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 .
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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 .
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This wisdom have I seen also under the sun ,
and it seemed great unto me :
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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 :
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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 .
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Then said I ,
Wisdom is better than strength :
nevertheless the poor man '
s wisdom is despised ,
and his words are not heard .
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The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools .
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Wisdom is better than weapons of war :
but one sinner destroyeth much good .