Ecclesiastes 9:12 — Bible Verse (KJV)
“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; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.”
Ecclesiastes 9:12 — King James Version (KJV), 1611
Ecclesiastes 9:12 in 6 Bible Translations
Read Ecclesiastes 9:12 in the King James Version (KJV) and 5 other free, public-domain translations side by side.
Ecclesiastes 9:12 WEB — World English Bible (2000)
“For man also doesn’t know his time. As the fish 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 falls suddenly on them.”
Ecclesiastes 9:12 — World English Bible
Ecclesiastes 9:12 ASV — American Standard Version (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
Ecclesiastes 9:12 YLT — Young's Literal Translation (1862)
“For even man knoweth not his time; as fish that are taken hold of by an evil net, and as birds that are taken hold of by a snare, like these <FI>are<Fi> the sons of man snared at an evil time, when it falleth upon them suddenly.”
Ecclesiastes 9:12 — Young's Literal Translation
Ecclesiastes 9:12 DBY — Darby Translation (1890)
“For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are taken with the snare, like them are the children of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.”
Ecclesiastes 9:12 — Darby Translation
Ecclesiastes 9:12 GEN — Geneva Bible (1599)
“For neither doth man knowe his time, but as the fishes which are taken in an euill net, and as the birdes that are caught in the snare: so are the children of men snared in the euill time when it falleth vpon them suddenly.”
Ecclesiastes 9:12 — Geneva Bible
Ecclesiastes 9:12 in Context — Ecclesiastes 9
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.
14 Il y avait une petite ville, avec peu d’hommes dans son sein; un roi puissant marcha sur elle, l’investit, et éleva contre elle de grands forts.
Read the full chapter: Ecclesiastes 9 — God's Sovereign Election →
What Does Ecclesiastes 9:12 Mean?
Ecclesiastes 9:12 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.
Also explore: Bible verses by topic | Read the full Bible free