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The Blue Letter Bible

Ecclesiastes 9 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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Death Comes to All

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 9:1

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 9:1 - This, too, I carefully explored: Even though the actions of godly and wise people are in God’s hands, no one knows whether God will show them favor.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 9:2

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 9:2 - The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether righteous or wicked, good or bad,[fn] ceremonially clean or unclean, religious or irreligious. Good people receive the same treatment as sinners, and people who make promises to God are treated like people who don’t.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 9:3

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 9:3 - It seems so tragic that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. That is why people are not more careful to be good. Instead, they choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 9:4

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 9:4 - There is hope only for the living. As they say, “It’s better to be a live dog than a dead lion!”

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 9:5

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 9:5 - The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 9:6

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 9:6 - Whatever they did in their lifetime—loving, hating, envying—is all long gone. They no longer play a part in anything here on earth.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 9:7

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 9:7 - So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this!

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 9:8

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 9:8 - Wear fine clothes, with a splash of cologne!

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 9:9

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 9:9 - Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you under the sun. The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly toil.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 9:10

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 9:10 - Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave,[fn] there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 9:11

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 9:11 - I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 9:12

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 9:12 - People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy.
Thoughts on Wisdom and Folly

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 9:13

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 9:13 - Here is another bit of wisdom that has impressed me as I have watched the way our world works.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 9:14

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 9:14 - There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king came with his army and besieged it.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 9:15

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 9:15 - A poor, wise man knew how to save the town, and so it was rescued. But afterward no one thought to thank him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 9:16

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 9:16 - So even though wisdom is better than strength, those who are wise will be despised if they are poor. What they say will not be appreciated for long.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 9:17

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 9:17 - Better to hear the quiet words of a wise person
than the shouts of a foolish king.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 9:18

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 9:18 - Better to have wisdom than weapons of war,
but one sinner can destroy much that is good.
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
As in Greek and Syriac versions and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew lacks or bad.
Hebrew to Sheol.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

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Ecclesiastes Chapter 9 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras