Ecclesiastes 9:12

Old Testament Wisdom/Poetry ASV (1901)

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.

Ecclesiastes 9:12 — American Standard Version

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Context — Ecclesiastes 9

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.

9Live 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.

10Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do [it] with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, whither thou goest.

11I 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.

12For 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.

13I have also seen wisdom under the sun on this wise, and it seemed great unto me:

14There 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.

15Now 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.

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