Ecclesiastes 9:11

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Ecclesiastes 9:9–13 · Berean Standard Bible

9 Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun.

10 Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.

11 I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all.

12 For surely no man knows his time: Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, so men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them.

13 I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me:

Hebrew words

Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

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Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

Ecclesiastes 2:12

Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished?

Ecclesiastes 4:1

Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.

Ecclesiastes 4:4

I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Malachi 3:18

So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

1 Samuel 17:50

Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

2 Samuel 2:18

The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was fleet of foot like a wild gazelle,

2 Samuel 2:19

and he chased Abner, not turning to the right or to the left in his pursuit.

2 Samuel 2:20

And Abner glanced back and said, “Is that you, Asahel?” “It is,” Asahel replied.

2 Samuel 2:21

So Abner told him, “Turn to your right or to your left, seize one of the young men, and take his equipment for yourself.” But Asahel would not stop chasing him.

2 Samuel 2:22

Once again, Abner warned Asahel, “Stop chasing me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How could I show my face to your brother Joab?”

2 Samuel 2:23

But Asahel refused to turn away; so Abner thrust the butt of his spear into his stomach, and it came out his back, and he fell dead on the spot. And every man paused when he came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died.

2 Samuel 17:14

Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had purposed to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.

2 Samuel 17:23

When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his affairs in order and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.

Psalms 33:16

No king is saved by his vast army; no warrior is delivered by his great strength.

Psalms 33:17

A horse is a vain hope for salvation; even its great strength cannot save.

Psalms 73:6

Therefore pride is their necklace; a garment of violence covers them.

Psalms 73:7

From their prosperity proceeds iniquity; the imaginations of their hearts run wild.

Psalms 147:10

He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legpower of the man.

Psalms 147:11

The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him, who hope in His loving devotion.

Jeremiah 9:23

This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.

Jeremiah 46:6

“The swift cannot flee, and the warrior cannot escape! In the north by the River Euphrates they stumble and fall.

Amos 2:14

Escape will fail the swift, the strong will not prevail by his strength, and the mighty will not save his life.

Amos 2:15

The archer will not stand his ground, the fleet of foot will not escape, and the horseman will not save his life.

Amos 2:16

Even the bravest of mighty men will flee naked on that day,” declares the LORD.

Ecclesiastes 2:14

The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.

Ecclesiastes 2:15

So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile.

Ecclesiastes 3:14

I know that everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God does it so that they should fear Him.

Ecclesiastes 3:17

I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”

Ecclesiastes 7:13

Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent?

1 Samuel 2:3

Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed.

1 Samuel 2:4

The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble are equipped with strength.

1 Samuel 2:5

The well-fed hire themselves out for food, but the starving hunger no more. The barren woman gives birth to seven, but she who has many sons pines away.

1 Samuel 2:6

The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.

1 Samuel 2:7

The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.

1 Samuel 2:8

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world.

1 Samuel 2:9

He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail.

1 Samuel 2:10

Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder from heaven against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth and will give power to His king. He will exalt the horn of His anointed.”

Job 5:11

He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety.

Job 5:12

He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.

Job 5:13

He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.

Job 5:14

They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night.

Job 34:29

But when He remains silent, who can condemn Him? When He hides His face, who can see Him? Yet He watches over both man and nation,

Proverbs 21:30

There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.

Proverbs 21:31

A horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory is of the LORD.

Lamentations 3:37

Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it?

Lamentations 3:38

Do not both adversity and good come from the mouth of the Most High?

Daniel 4:35

All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”

Ephesians 1:11

In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,