Ecclesiastes 9:11 — Bible Verse (KJV)

“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 favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”

Ecclesiastes 9:11 — King James Version (KJV), 1611

Ecclesiastes 9:11 in 6 Bible Translations

Read Ecclesiastes 9:11 in the King James Version (KJV) and 5 other free, public-domain translations side by side.

Ecclesiastes 9:11 WEB — World English Bible (2000)

“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 happen to them all.”

Ecclesiastes 9:11 — World English Bible

Ecclesiastes 9:11 ASV — American Standard Version (1901)

“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.”

Ecclesiastes 9:11 — American Standard Version

Ecclesiastes 9:11 YLT — Young's Literal Translation (1862)

“I have turned so as to see under the sun, that not to the swift <FI>is<Fi> the race, nor to the mighty the battle, nor even to the wise bread, nor even to the intelligent wealth, nor even to the skilful grace, for time and chance happen with them all.”

Ecclesiastes 9:11 — Young's Literal Translation

Ecclesiastes 9:11 DBY — Darby Translation (1890)

“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 the intelligent, nor yet favour to men of knowledge; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”

Ecclesiastes 9:11 — Darby Translation

Ecclesiastes 9:11 GEN — Geneva Bible (1599)

“I returned, and I sawe vnder the sunne that the race is not to the swift, nor the battell to the strong, nor yet bread to the wise, nor also riches to men of vnderstanding, neither yet fauour to men of knowledge: but time and chance commeth to them all.”

Ecclesiastes 9:11 — Geneva Bible

Ecclesiastes 9:11 in Context — Ecclesiastes 9

9 Jouis de la vie avec la femme que tu aimes, pendant tous les jours de ta vie de vanité, que Dieu t’a donnés sous le soleil, pendant tous les jours de ta vanité; car c’est ta part dans la vie, au milieu de ton travail que tu fais sous le soleil.

10 Tout ce que ta main trouve à faire avec ta force, fais-le; car il n’y a ni œuvre, ni pensée, ni science, ni sagesse, dans le séjour des morts, où tu vas.

11 J’ai encore vu sous le soleil que la course n’est point aux agiles ni la guerre aux vaillants, ni le pain aux sages, ni la richesse aux intelligents, ni la faveur aux savants; car tout dépend pour eux du temps et des circonstances.

12 L’homme ne connaît pas non plus son heure, pareil aux poissons qui sont pris au filet fatal, et aux oiseaux qui sont pris au piège; comme eux, les fils de l’homme sont enlacés au temps du malheur, lorsqu’il tombe sur eux tout à coup.

13 J’ai aussi vu sous le soleil ce trait d’une sagesse qui m’a paru grande.

Read the full chapter: Ecclesiastes 9 — God's Sovereign Election →

What Does Ecclesiastes 9:11 Mean?

Ecclesiastes 9:11 is a verse from the Book of Ecclesiastes, part of the Old Testament. It appears in Ecclesiastes chapter 9. Use The Living Sword's word-by-word study mode to explore every word in the original Hebrew and Aramaic.

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