Ecclesiastes 9:12

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Ecclesiastes 9:10–14 · Berean Standard Bible

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:

14 There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it.

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 8:5

Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.

Ecclesiastes 8:6

For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.

Ecclesiastes 8:7

Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?

Ecclesiastes 8:11

When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.

Luke 19:42

and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes.

Luke 19:43

For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side.

Luke 19:44

They will level you to the ground—you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

2 Corinthians 6:2

For He says: “In the time of favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!

1 Peter 2:12

Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.

Proverbs 7:22

He follows her on impulse, like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer bounding into a trap,

Proverbs 7:23

until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare— not knowing it will cost him his life.

Habakkuk 1:14

You have made men like the fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no ruler.

Habakkuk 1:15

The foe pulls all of them up with a hook; he catches them in his dragnet, and gathers them in his fishing net; so he rejoices gladly.

Habakkuk 1:16

Therefore he sacrifices to his dragnet and burns incense to his fishing net, for by these things his portion is sumptuous and his food is rich.

Habakkuk 1:17

Will he, therefore, empty his net and continue to slay nations without mercy?

2 Timothy 2:26

Then they will come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, who has taken them captive to his will.

Job 18:8

For his own feet lead him into a net, and he wanders into its mesh.

Job 18:9

A trap seizes his heel; a snare grips him.

Job 18:10

A noose is hidden in the ground, and a trap lies in his path.

Psalms 11:6

On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.

Psalms 73:18

Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin.

Psalms 73:19

How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors!

Psalms 73:20

Like one waking from a dream, so You, O Lord, awaken and despise their form.

Proverbs 6:15

Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.

Proverbs 29:6

An evil man is caught by his own sin, but a righteous one sings and rejoices.

Isaiah 30:13

this iniquity of yours is like a breach about to fail, a bulge in a high wall, whose collapse will come suddenly— in an instant!

Luke 12:20

But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

Luke 12:39

But understand this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.

Luke 17:26

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:

Luke 17:27

People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

Luke 17:28

It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.

Luke 17:29

But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

Luke 17:30

It will be just like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

Luke 17:31

On that day, let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve his possessions. Likewise, let no one in the field return for anything he has left behind.

Luke 21:34

But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.

Luke 21:35

For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of all the earth.

Luke 21:36

So keep watch at all times, and pray that you may have the strength to escape all that is about to happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”

1 Thessalonians 5:3

While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

2 Peter 2:12

These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed.