For all this I laid to my heart, even to explore all this: that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; whether it be love or hatred, man knoweth it not; all is before them.
All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not; as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
{Another reading is, For who is exempted? With all &c., or, who can choose? With all &c.}For to him that is joined with all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
As well their love, as their hatred and their envy, is perished long ago; neither have they any more a portion for ever in anything that is done under the sun.
Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God hath already accepted thy works.
Let thy garments be always white; and let not thy head lack oil.
{Or, Enjoy (Hebrew: See) life}Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of thy life of vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all thy days of vanity: for that is thy portion in life, and in thy labor wherein thou laborest under the sun.
Whatsoever thy hand {Or, attained to do by thy strength, that do}findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, whither thou goest.
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
I have also seen wisdom under the sun on this wise, and it seemed great unto me:
There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it.
Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.
Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroyeth much good.
Querverweise zu Prediger 9,3 Pred 9,3
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is {Or, emboldened}fully set in them to do evil.
And I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also was a striving after wind.
and the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it.
And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
I turned about, and my heart was set to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the reason of things, and to know {Or, the wickedness of folly, and foolishness which is madness}that wickedness is folly, and that foolishness is madness.
The wicked is thrust down in his {Or, calamity}evil-doing;But the righteous hath a refuge in his death.
And Jehovah smelled the sweet savor; and Jehovah said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's {Or, sake; for the}sake, for that the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done.
But they were filled with {Or, foolishness}madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.
And immediately an angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
How much less {Or, that which is}one that is abominable and corrupt,A man that drinketh iniquity like water!
But when he came to himself he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish here with hunger!
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity;And in sin did my mother conceive me.
And punishing them oftentimes in all the synagogues, I strove to make them blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto foreign cities.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?
And as he thus made his defence, Festus saith with a loud voice, Paul, thou art mad; thy much learning {Greek: turneth thee to madness.}is turning thee mad.
For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings:
but he was rebuked for his own transgression: a dumb ass spake with man's voice and stayed the madness of the prophet.
these are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not the man.
For from within, out of the heart of men, {Greek: thoughts that are evil.}evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,
covetings, wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, pride, foolishness:
all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man.
being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
backbiters, {Or, haters of God}hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, unmerciful:
For we also once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.