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Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 9

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Ecclesiastes 9 NWT - New World TranslationEcclesiastes 9 NWT - New World Translation

Chapter 9 of Ecclesiastes—New World Translation (NWT)

  1. ¶ For I took all this to my heart, even to search out all this,1 that the righteous ones and the wise ones and their works are in the hand of the [true] God.2 Mankind are not aware of either the love or the hate that were all prior to them.3
  2. All are the same in what all have.4 One eventuality5 there is to the righteous one6 and the wicked one,7 the good one and the clean one and the unclean one, and the one sacrificing and the one that is not sacrificing. The good one is the same as the sinner;8 the one swearing is the same as whoever has been afraid of a sworn oath.9
  3. This is what is calamitous in all that has been done under the sun, that, because there is one eventuality to all,10 the heart of the sons of men is also full of bad;11 and there is madness12 in their heart during their lifetime, and after it—to the dead ones!13
  4. ¶ For as respects whoever is joined[a] to all the living there exists confidence, because a live dog14 is better off than a dead lion.15
  5. For the living are conscious that they will die;[b]16 but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all,[c]17 neither do they anymore have wages, because the remembrance of them has been forgotten.18
  6. Also, their love and their hate and their jealousy have already perished,19 and they have no portion anymore to time indefinite in anything that has to be done under the sun.20
  7. ¶ Go, eat your food[d] with rejoicing and drink your wine with a good heart,21 because already the [true] God has found pleasure in your works.22
  8. On every occasion let your garments prove to be white,23 and let oil not be lacking upon your head.24
  9. See life with the wife whom you love25 all the days of your vain life that He has given you under the sun, all the days of your vanity, for that is your portion in life26 and in your hard work with which you are working hard under the sun.
  10. All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power,27 for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge28 nor wisdom29 in Sheʹol,[e]30 the place to which you are going.31
  11. ¶ I returned to see[f] under the sun that the swift do not have the race,32 nor the mighty ones the battle,33 nor do the wise also have the food,[g]34 nor do the understanding ones also have the riches,35 nor do even those having knowledge have the favor;36 because time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all.[h]37
  12. For man38 also does not know his time.39 Just like fishes that are being taken in an evil net,40 and like birds that are being taken in a trap,41 so the sons of men themselves are being ensnared at a calamitous time,42 when it falls upon them suddenly.43
  13. ¶ Also this I saw as respects wisdom under the sun—and it[i] was great to me:
  14. There was a little city, and the men[j] in it were few; and there came to it a great king, and he surrounded it and built against it great strongholds.44
  15. And there was found in it a man,[k] needy [but][l] wise, and that one provided escape for the city by his wisdom.45 But no man remembered that needy man.46
  16. And I myself said: “Wisdom is better than mightiness;47 yet the wisdom of the needy one is despised, and his words are not listened to.”48
  17. ¶ The words of the wise ones in quietness are more to be heard49 than the cry of one ruling among stupid people.50
  18. ¶ Wisdom is better than implements for fighting, and merely one sinner can destroy much good.51

FOOTNOTES

  1. ^ “Is joined,” MmarginLXXSy and many Heb. mss.
  2. ^ Lit., “For the living ones are knowing that they will die.” Heb., ki ha·chai·yimʹ yoh·dheʽimʹ shey·ya·muʹthu.
  3. ^ Lit., “and the dead ones, they are not knowing anything.” Heb., weham·me·thimʹ ʼeh·namʹ yoh·dheʽimʹ meʼuʹmah.
  4. ^ Lit., “your bread.” Heb., lach·meʹkha.
  5. ^ “In Sheol.” Heb., bish·ʼohlʹ; T, “the house of the grave”; Gr., haiʹdei; Lat., inʹfe·ros. See App 4B.
  6. ^ “To see.” In Heb. this verb is in the infinitive absolute, indefinite as to time and impersonal.
  7. ^ Lit., “bread.” Heb., leʹchem.
  8. ^ Or, “time and unpredictable occurrence happen to them all.”
  9. ^ “It,” fem., evidently referring to “wisdom.” The adjective “great” is also fem.
  10. ^ Lit., “and men.” Heb., wa·ʼana·shimʹ, pl. of ʼish.
  11. ^ “Man.” Heb., ʼish.
  12. ^ “But,” TVg and many Heb. mss.

REFERENCES

  1. ^ Ec 1:17; 7:25; 8:16
  2. ^ De 33:3; 1Sa 2:9; Ps 37:5
  3. ^ Ec 9:6
  4. ^ Mt 5:45; Ac 14:17
  5. ^ Ec 5:15
  6. ^ Ge 25:8
  7. ^ Jb 21:7, 23; Ec 8:10
  8. ^ Ro 5:12
  9. ^ 1Sa 14:26
  10. ^ Jb 3:19; 14:10; Ec 2:15
  11. ^ Ge 8:21
  12. ^ Ec 7:25
  13. ^ 1Co 15:32
  14. ^ Is 38:19; Mt 15:27
  15. ^ 2Ch 35:24; Pr 30:30
  16. ^ Ge 3:19; 47:30; Ro 5:12
  17. ^ Ps 88:10; 115:17; 146:4; Is 38:18; Jn 11:11
  18. ^ Jb 7:10; Ps 109:15; Ec 2:16; Is 26:14
  19. ^ Ps 1:6; Ec 9:1
  20. ^ Ec 9:10
  21. ^ De 12:7; 1Ki 8:66; Ps 104:15; Ec 2:24
  22. ^ De 16:15; Ac 10:31, 35; 14:17
  23. ^ Re 3:5; 7:14; 19:8
  24. ^ Da 10:3; Mt 6:17; Lu 7:46
  25. ^ Pr 5:18
  26. ^ Ec 5:18
  27. ^ 2Ch 31:21
  28. ^ Is 38:18
  29. ^ Ps 146:4
  30. ^ Ge 37:35; 1Ki 2:6; Is 5:14
  31. ^ Ps 115:17
  32. ^ Je 46:6; Am 2:14
  33. ^ 1Sa 17:50; Ps 33:16
  34. ^ Ec 9:15
  35. ^ Ec 2:15
  36. ^ 2Sa 17:23
  37. ^ Ge 42:4; 1Sa 6:9; 1Ki 22:34
  38. ^ Jb 14:1; Ps 8:4
  39. ^ Ec 8:8; Jm 4:14
  40. ^ Hab 1:15
  41. ^ Pr 7:23
  42. ^ Lu 21:34
  43. ^ Lu 21:35
  44. ^ 2Sa 20:15
  45. ^ 2Sa 20:22; Ec 7:12
  46. ^ Ge 40:23; Ps 31:12; Ec 9:11
  47. ^ Pr 21:22; 24:5; Ec 7:19; 9:18
  48. ^ Pr 10:15; Mr 6:3; Jn 7:48; 1Co 1:27; 2:8
  49. ^ Ge 41:39; Pr 22:17; Da 12:3
  50. ^ 1Sa 7:3
  51. ^ Jos 22:20; 1Co 5:6; Ga 5:9; Ti 1:11; Heb 12:15; 3Jo 10

Read Ecclesiastes Chapter 9 in other Bible versions:

Comments

  1. David yakubuDavid yakubu
    Oct 29, 2022 08:05 GMT

    When i do read some comments and seeing that its the same people that are supposed to be called believers but are talking ill of other denominations, it hurts. Let us all remember that We should judge not

    1. jonas smithjonas smith
      Apr 23, 2023 02:57 GMT

      The bible tells us to test the spirits. Satan disguises himself as angel of light. So yes some denomination are not teaching the truth. You are responsible for judging which ones are not. You have to judge the truth at all times. this is what the bible teaches

  2. THTH
    Apr 7, 2021 00:20 GMT

    The NWT is a very good translation. Dr. Jason David BeDuhn PhD attests to that in his book Truth in Translation. drive.google.com/...5p16melHzg8/view

    1. James LernerJames Lerner
      Jul 20, 2024 09:48 GMT

      The NWT is Satanic filth to its very core.

      The JW Cult is Satanic to its very core.

      Praise Yahweh I will never be a victim of JW brainwashing. If I burn in Hell for eternity or I am ultimately annihilated so be it

      May Yahweh's curse rest on the Watchtower Society and its Satanic leadership

    2. jim mcleodjim mcleod
      Aug 22, 2021 06:16 GMT

      NWT is a false translation that takes away from the deity of Jesus !

  3. SlightlyChaoticSlightlyChaotic
    Jan 30, 2021 16:33 GMT

    Thank you for taking the time to provide this service. I like seeing the NASB on your web page in the same format as I read on paper. On other sites, the text area is smaller, and so I have to keep scrolling down to read and sometimes I lose the context. So I really appreciate the format.

    As far as the NWT, you are certainly free to do whatever you think best with your own web pages. I'd suggest that you make a note anytime you have a translation that is associated with only one denomination or church, for example:
    New World Translation (Jehovah's Witness version).

    In Jesus' parable of the wheat and the tares. the main idea seems to be that you can't easily distinguish between God's people and not-God's people on this earth, so our Lord's response is to wait until they are shown to be the kind of people they are inside. But the NWT seems like false teaching to me. So I think the warning passages from Jesus' apostles are more applicable, as in 2 Peter 3:15-16, when he talks about Paul's writings:
    "There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures."
    And we also have the positive exhortations, as in 2 Timothy 2:15:
    "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."

    1. BroderickBroderick
      Jan 31, 2021 00:57 GMT

      Your suggestion regarding the denominational flagging is duly noted. But I can’t help but wonder, wouldn’t a Catholic also want “Protestant versions” marked as well?

      As for the parable, I’m pretty sure the slaves were convinced in their own minds that they could tell the tares from the wheat. After all, aren’t they the ones who identified the problem in the first place? But the master obviously thought otherwise.

      Furthermore, even at the time when Jesus himself was walking the earth, not everybody who claimed fellowship actually followed him causing John to inquire at Mark 9:39, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him . . . for he who is not against us is for us.”

  4. Joshua HarderJoshua Harder
    Dec 11, 2020 17:48 GMT

    Hello, question.. why have you included the NWT with other legitimate bible translations? Or why have you not atleast included a warning to readers? Don't you fear that someone could be influenced by the Watchtower's intentional heresies? Thank you.

    1. KevinKevin
      Jul 11, 2021 17:45 GMT

      en.m.wikipedia.org/..._Holy_Scriptures

      See the section critical review

    2. ChrisChris
      Jan 8, 2021 07:15 GMT

      Please site these intentional heresies. I am well versed in the watch tower outline and agree they are in many ways incorrect but i also bet i can point many out from EVERY established or main denomination. There is much to learn from them all as one who drinks milk?

      Judge not lest ye be judged, that is not to pass judgement on you either brother.

      I debate with scripture. I don't hold it to be true that Michael is Y'Shua HaMeshiach but I also firmly hold it to be true that our G-d and Heavenly Father are not the word encarnate and only begotten son.

      I love not seeing "lord" which i relate to baal. I feel the catholic church is a satanic establishment and I am aware a freemason started the hovies but there are evil in high places and our fight is also with principalities.

      What i'm saying is that in my darkest hours, those two were some of if not the only ones who would bring a Bible and eucharist and pray with me.

      We all fall short of the glory of G-d.

      Don't forget the NWT was recognized as the most accurate translation on Jeopardy.

      Lastly, this is different I noted than the NWT i have read and am very familiar with. Pull up the watchtower page and compare. I truly look forward to getting this one!

  5. julietjuliet
    Aug 17, 2022 09:36 GMT

    the sky is blue

  6. mercymercy
    Aug 12, 2022 21:23 GMT

    i am Mercy, the sky is blue what else do you need

    1. mercymercy
      Aug 12, 2022 21:25 GMT

      i am so sorry, it was a big mistake

  7. God is able to do all thingsGod is able to do all things
    May 17, 2021 17:59 GMT

    Jesus how much love calling yo name

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