Ecclesiastes · Majority Standard Bible
Ecclesiastes 9 Majority Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate.
1 CIERTAMENTE dado he mi corazón á todas estas cosas, para declarar todo esto: que los justos y los sabios, y sus obras, están en la mano de Dios; y que no sabe el hombre ni el amor ni el odio por todo lo que [pasa] delante de él.
2 It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.
2 Todo acontece de la misma manera á todos: un mismo suceso ocurre al justo y al impío; al bueno y al limpio y al no limpio; al que sacrifica, y al que no sacrifica: como el bueno, así el que peca; el que jura, como el que teme el juramento.
3 This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.
3 Este mal hay entre todo lo que se hace debajo del sol, que todos tengan un mismo suceso, y también que el corazón de los hijos de los hombres esté lleno de mal, y de enloquecimiento en su corazón durante su vida: y después, á los muertos.
4 There is hope, however, for anyone who is among the living; for even a live dog is better than a dead lion.
4 Aun hay esperanza para todo aquél que está entre los vivos; porque mejor es perro vivo que león muerto.
5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.
5 Porque los que viven saben que han de morir: mas los muertos nada saben, ni tienen más paga; porque su memoria es puesta en olvido.
6 Their love, their hate, and their envy have already vanished, and they will never again have a share in all that is done under the sun.
6 También su amor, y su odio y su envidia, feneció ya: ni tiene ya más parte en el siglo, en todo lo que se hace debajo del sol.
7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:
7 Anda, y come tu pan con gozo, y bebe tu vino con alegre corazón: porque tus obras ya son agradables á Dios.
8 Let your garments always be white, and never spare the oil for your head.
8 En todo tiempo sean blancos tus vestidos, y nunca falte ungüento sobre tu cabeza.
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.
9 Goza de la vida con la mujer que amas, todos los días de la vida de tu vanidad, que te son dados debajo del sol, todos los días de tu vanidad; porque esta es tu parte en la vida, y en tu trabajo con que te afanas debajo del sol.
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.
10 Todo lo que te viniere á la mano para hacer, hazlo según tus fuerzas; porque en el sepulcro, adonde tú vas, no hay obra, ni industria, ni ciencia, ni sabiduría.
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.
11 Tornéme, y vi debajo del sol, que ni es de los ligeros la carrera, ni la guerra de los fuertes, ni aun de los sabios el pan, ni de los prudentes las riquezas, ni de los elocuentes el favor; sino que tiempo y ocasión acontece á todos.
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.
12 Porque el hombre tampoco conoce su tiempo: como los peces que son presos en la mala red, y como las aves que se prenden en lazo, así son enlazados los hijos de los hombres en el tiempo malo, cuando cae de repente sobre ellos.
13 I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me:
13 También vi esta sabiduría debajo del sol, la cual me parece grande:
14 There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it.
14 Una pequeña ciudad, y pocos hombres en ella; y viene contra ella un gran rey, y cércala, y edifica contra ella grandes baluartes:
15 Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.
15 Y hállase en ella un hombre pobre, sabio, el cual libra la ciudad con su sabiduría; y nadie se acordaba de aquel pobre hombre.
16 And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”
16 Entonces dije yo: Mejor es la sabiduría que la fortaleza; aunque la ciencia del pobre sea menospreciada, y no sean escuchadas sus palabras.
17 The calm words of the wise are heeded over the shouts of a ruler among fools.
17 Las palabras del sabio con reposo son oídas, más que el clamor del señor entre los necios.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
18 Mejor es la sabiduría que las armas de guerra; mas un pecador destruye mucho bien.
Cross references (18)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Deuteronomy 33:3; John 10:27–30; Job 12:10; Ecclesiastes 8:14; 1 Peter 1:5
- 2 Malachi 3:18; Ecclesiastes 2:14–16; Job 9:22; Psalm 73:3; Malachi 3:5
- 3 Jeremiah 17:9; Ecclesiastes 8:11; Ecclesiastes 1:17; Job 15:16; Titus 3:3
- 4 Job 14:7–12; Isaiah 38:18; Luke 16:26–29; Lamentations 3:21–22; Job 27:8
- 5 Isaiah 26:14; Ecclesiastes 1:11; Psalm 6:5; Psalm 88:10–12; Hebrews 9:27
- 6 Psalm 146:3–4; Matthew 2:20; Ecclesiastes 6:12; Job 3:17–18; Ecclesiastes 2:18–23
- 7 Ecclesiastes 3:12–13; Deuteronomy 12:7; Ecclesiastes 10:19; Ecclesiastes 8:15; Ecclesiastes 2:24–26
- 8 Revelation 19:14; Revelation 3:4–5; Revelation 19:8; Revelation 7:13–14; Revelation 16:15
- 9 Proverbs 5:18–19; Ecclesiastes 2:10; Malachi 2:15; Ecclesiastes 6:12; Ecclesiastes 3:13
- 10 Colossians 3:23; Ephesians 5:16; Romans 12:11; Psalm 6:5; Ecclesiastes 11:6
- 11 Jeremiah 9:23; Proverbs 21:30–31; Lamentations 3:37–38; Job 5:11–14; Ecclesiastes 3:17
- 12 1 Thessalonians 5:3; Luke 21:34–36; Proverbs 6:15; Luke 12:20; Proverbs 29:6
- 13 Ecclesiastes 8:16; Ecclesiastes 7:15; Ecclesiastes 6:1; Ecclesiastes 9:11
- 14 2 Samuel 20:15–22; 2 Kings 6:24–7:20
- 15 Ecclesiastes 4:13; Genesis 40:23; Esther 6:2–3; 2 Samuel 20:22; Ecclesiastes 2:16
- 16 Ecclesiastes 7:19; Proverbs 24:5; Proverbs 21:22; Mark 6:2–3; James 2:2–6
- 17 James 3:17–18; Proverbs 28:23; James 1:20; Isaiah 42:2; Genesis 41:33–40
- 18 Joshua 7:1; Joshua 7:11–12; Joshua 7:5; 2 Timothy 2:16–18; Ecclesiastes 9:16
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… thy wine with a merry heart (that is, the spiritual wine); and let oil be poured out upon thy head (thou seest he alludes even to the mystic Chrism); and let thy garments be always white, for the Lord is well pleased with thy works; for before thou camest to Baptism, thy works were vanity of vanities.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
So, since no human voice is strong enough to be heard in such a disturbance, I reckon silence more profitable than speech, for if there is any truth in the words of the Preacher, "The words of wise men are heard in quiet," in the present condition of things any discussion of them must be anything but becoming.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)