10. Whatever your hand finds to do, do with all your strength, for there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, where you are going.
11. I further observed under the sun: The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the mighty, nor does bread come to the wise, or wealth to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; for time and chance befall them all.
12. Moreover, no man knows his time: like fish caught in a fatal net or birds caught in a snare, so people are trapped in a time of calamity, that falls upon them suddenly.
13. I also observed this as wisdom under the sun, and it greatly impressed me.
14. There was a little city with a few people in it and a mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built great siege works against it.
15. Now a poor, wise man was found in it, and he delivered the city by his shrewdness. Yet nobody remembered that poor man!
16. So I said: “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heeded.
17. The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than a ruler’s shout among fools.
18. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.