Pengkhotbah 9:10-11

9:10 Whatever you find to do with your hands, ¹ 

do it with all your might,

because there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave, ² 

the place where you will eventually go. ³ 

Wisdom Cannot Protect against Seemingly Chance Events

9:11 Again, ⁴  I observed this on the earth: ⁵ 

the race is not always ⁶  won by the swiftest,

the battle is not always won by the strongest;

prosperity ⁷  does not always belong to those who are the wisest,

wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning,

nor does success ⁸  always come to those with the most knowledge –

for time and chance may overcome ⁹  them all.

[9:10]  ¹ tn Heb “Whatever your hand finds to do.”

[9:10]  ² tn Heb “Sheol.”

[9:10]  ³ tn Or “where you are about to go.”

[9:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “I returned and.” In the Hebrew idiom, “to return and do” means “to do again.”

[9:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[9:11]  ⁶ tn The term “always” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation (five times in this verse) for clarity.

[9:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “bread.”

[9:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “favor.”

[9:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “happen to.”