Ecclesiastes 9:1 “So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the w…”

Ecclesiastes 9:1

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.

Berean Standard Bible

Other translations

King James Version

For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.

World English Bible

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 is love or hatred, man doesn’t know it; all is before them.

American Standard Version

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.

Geneva Bible 1599

I have surely giuen mine heart to all this, and to declare all this, that the iust, and the wise, and their workes are in the hand of God: and no man knoweth eyther loue or hatred of all that is before them.

Darby Translation

For all this I laid to my heart and [indeed] to investigate all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; man knoweth neither love nor hatred: all is before them.

Young's Literal Translation

But all this I have laid unto my heart, so as to clear up the whole of this, that the righteous and the wise, and their works, [are] in the hand of God, neither love nor hatred doth man know, the whole [is] before them.

Bible in Basic English

All this I took to heart, and my heart saw it all: that the upright and the wise and their works are in the hand of God; and men may not be certain if it will be love or hate; all is to no purpose before them.

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Cross references

“considered in my heart”

Ecclesiastes 12:9 Ecclesiastes 12:10 Ecclesiastes 1:17 Ecclesiastes 7:25 Ecclesiastes 8:16

Ecclesiastes 12:9 · BSB

Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also taught the people knowledge; he pondered, searched out, and arranged many proverbs.

Ecclesiastes 12:10 · BSB

The Teacher searched to find delightful sayings and to record accurate words of truth.

Ecclesiastes 1:17 · BSB

So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.

Ecclesiastes 7:25 · BSB

I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.

Ecclesiastes 8:16 · BSB

When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night—

“that the”

Deuteronomy 33:3 John 10:27–30 Ecclesiastes 8:14 1 Peter 1:5 1 Samuel 2:9 2 Samuel 15:25

Deuteronomy 33:3 · BSB

Surely You love the people; all the holy ones are in Your hand, and they sit down at Your feet; each receives Your words—

John 10:27–30 · BSB

My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.

Ecclesiastes 8:14 · BSB

There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is fu…

1 Peter 1:5 · BSB

who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 Samuel 2:9 · BSB

He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail.

2 Samuel 15:25 · BSB

Then the king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and let me see both it and His dwelling place again.

“no man”

Ecclesiastes 7:15 Psalm 73:11–13 Malachi 3:15–18 Psalm 73:3

Ecclesiastes 7:15 · BSB

In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.

Psalm 73:11–13 · BSB

The wicked say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?”

Malachi 3:15–18 · BSB

So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’”

Psalm 73:3 · BSB

For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Also

Job 12:10 Ecclesiastes 10:14

Job 12:10 · BSB

The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.

Ecclesiastes 10:14 · BSB

Yet the fool multiplies words. No one knows what is coming, and who can tell him what will come after him?

Cross references adapted from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0) and the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

In context

2It 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.

Read Ecclesiastes 9