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by virtue; for you are dying, he says. Do not have wickedness; for you are dying. Since he said that those who fear God will live, for this reason he says again how good life is, how bad death is. See again how he persuades to be moderate. I turned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, and indeed bread is not to the wise nor riches to the intelligent, and indeed favor is not to those who have knowledge. For time and chance will happen to them all. For indeed man does not know his time; like fish that are caught in an evil net, and like birds in a snare. He says these things, teaching not to trust in circumstances, but to have hope in God, not to consider the advantages of human nature as something great. For all will die. Not only this, but that they die in this way, like fish that are caught badly in a net; so also these do not know their end. And this I saw as wisdom under the sun, and it is great to me: a small city and few men in it, and a great king comes against it and surrounds it and builds great siegeworks against it, and he finds in it a poor and wise man, and he himself saves the city by his wisdom; and no one remembered that poor man. And I said: wisdom is better than strength; and the wisdom of the poor man is despised. What he says is this: it is a great thing to be compassionate and merciful and to effect the correction of those who have fallen and are lying down, and even if the dangers are great, to aid those who are at war, and even if they are poor, not to overlook them.

10 If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place, for healing will stop great sins. This is "do not leave": do not be contemptuous if the one in power is angry with you; for to wish to reconcile to himself *** Do not leave your place; that is, either flee or turn aside or use every manner of defense; for this will heal the sins. There is an evil which I saw under the sun, as an unintentional thing that comes forth from the face of the ruler; the fool was placed in great high places, and the rich will sit in a humble place; I saw slaves on horses and rulers walking like slaves upon the earth. The wise were humbled, but on the contrary both slaves and fools were exalted. He who digs a pit will fall into it, <and he who breaks down a wall, a serpent will bite him>. Then from what happens he says that often someone tore down or dug through a wall and, when the one about to be wronged was not present, a serpent devoured him. Therefore he wants to confirm the word, or to persuade that these things do not happen simply, but by God sending the beasts. He who removes stones will be hurt by them. If the iron falls, and he has disturbed his face, he will also strengthen his forces, and there is advantage for the man in wisdom. He who reproves all things endures much toil and much sweat. If the iron falls while he is splitting wood, he will be endangered by it. That is, neither did anything happen there; or he says this, that God has many reasons for punishing and taking vengeance. If a serpent bites at the time of harvest, there is no advantage for the enchanter.

Nothing more, he says; for then the bites are grievous. He says this, therefore, that if you do not repent beforehand, you will have nothing more, but you will receive an inconsolable blow, when your sin must be harvested. Man does not know what has been, and what will be; what is after him, who will report to him? [The toil of fools will wear him out, who did not know how to go.] And perhaps, if there were someone who reported to him <the things> after this, he would have known that what has been is itself what is to be; because he is short-lived, he does not know all things. For this reason God has given us the scriptures as no small comfort; however the scriptures do not say all things concerning the time before. The toil of a fool will wear him out, who does not know how to go to a city. It seems to me that he speaks of those who do evil in the wilderness, those who devise countless things.

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ἀρετῇ· ἀποθνῄσκεις γάρ, φησίν. Μὴ ἔχου τῆς κακίας· ἀποθνῄσκεις γάρ. Ἐπειδὴ εἶπεν ὅτι οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν θεὸν ζήσονται, διὰ τοῦτο πάλιν λέγει πόσον καλὸν ζωή, πόσον κακὸν θάνατος. Ὅρα πάλιν πῶς πείθει μετριάζειν. Ἐπέστρεψα καὶ εἶδον ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον ὅτι οὐ τοῖς κούφοις ὁ δρόμος, οὐ τοῖς δυνατοῖς ὁ πόλεμος, καί γε οὐ τῷ σοφῷ ἄρτος καὶ οὐ τοῖς συνετοῖς ὁ πλοῦτος, καί γε οὐ τοῖς γινώσκουσιν χάρις. Ὅτι καιρὸς καὶ ἀπάντημα συναντήσεται ἓν σύμπασιν αὐτοῖς. Ὅτι καί γε οὐκ ἔγνω ὁ ἄνθρωπος τὸν καιρὸν αὐτοῦ· ὡς οἱ ἰχθύες οἱ θηρευόμενοι ἐν ἀμφιβλήστρῳ κακῷ, καὶ ὡς ὄρνεα ἐν παγίδι. Ταῦτα λέγει διδάσκων μὴ τοῖς πράγμασιν θαρρεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα ἔχειν εἰς τὸν θεόν, μὴ τὰ πλεονεκτήματα τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως μέγα τι νομίζειν. Καὶ γὰρ ἀποθανοῦνται πάντες. Οὐ τοῦτο μόνον, ἀλλ' ὅτι οὕτως ἀποθνῄσκουσιν, ὡς οἱ ἰχθύες οἱ θηρευόμενοι κακῶς ἐν ἀμφιβλήστρῳ· οὕτω καὶ οὗτοι οὐκ ἴσασιν τὴν τελευτήν. Καί γε τοῦτο εἶδον σοφίαν ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον, καὶ μεγάλη ἐστὶν πρός με· πόλις μικρὰ καὶ ἄνδρες ἐν αὐτῇ ὀλίγοι, καὶ ἔλθῃ ἐπ' αὐτὴν βασιλεὺς μέγας καὶ κυκλώσῃ αὐτὴν καὶ οἰκοδομήσῃ ἐπ' αὐτὴν χάρακας μεγάλους, καὶ εὕρῃ ἐν αὐτῇ ἄνδρα πένητα καὶ σοφόν, καὶ διασώσῃ αὐτὸς τὴν πόλιν ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ἐμνήσθη σὺν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τοῦ πένητος. Καὶ εἶπα· ἀγαθὴ σοφία ὑπὲρ δύναμιν· καὶ σοφία τοῦ πένητος ἐξουδενωμένη. Ὃ λέγει τοῦτ' ἔστιν· μέγα πρᾶγμα οἰκτίρμονα εἶναι καὶ φιλελεήμονα καὶ τὴν διόρθωσιν τῶν πεπτωκότων καὶ κειμένων ποιούμενον, κἂν μεγάλα ᾖ τὰ δεινὰ τοῖς ἐκπεπολεμωμένοις ἐπικουρεῖν, κἂν πένητες ὦσιν, μὴ παρορᾶν.

10 Ἐὰν τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ ἐξουσιάζοντος ἀναβῇ ἐπὶ σέ, τὸν τόπον σου μὴ ἀφῇς, ὅτι ἴαμα καταπαύσει ἁμαρτίας μεγάλας. Τοῦτ' ἔστιν μὴ ἀφῇς· μὴ καταφρονήσῃς, ἐὰν ὀργισθῇ σοι ὁ κρατῶν· τὸ γὰρ βούλεσθαι καταλλάττειν ἑαυτῷ *** Τὸν τόπον μὴ ἀφῇς· τουτέστιν, ἢ φύγε ἢ ἔκκλινον ἢ πάντα τρόπον ἀπολογίας κίνησον· τοῦτο γὰρ ἰάσεται τὰ ἁμαρτήματα. Ἔστιν πονηρία ἣν εἶδον ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον, ὡς ἀκούσιον ἐξῆλθεν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ ἐξουσιάζοντος· ἐδόθη ὁ ἄφρων ἐν ὕψεσιν μεγάλοις, καὶ πλούσιοι ἐν ταπεινῷ καθεσθήσονται· εἶδον δούλους ἐφ' ἵππους καὶ ἄρχοντας πορευομένους ὡς δούλους ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Οἱ μὲν σοφοὶ ἐταπεινώθησαν, ὑψώθησαν δὲ τοὐναντίον καὶ δοῦλοι καὶ ἄφρονες. Ὁ ὀρύσσων βόθρον ἐμπεσεῖται εἰς αὐτόν, <καὶ καθαιροῦντα φραγμὸν δήξεται αὐτὸν ὄφις>. Εἶτα ἀπὸ τῶν συμβαινόντων λέγει ὅτι πολλάκις τοῖχόν τις κατέβαλεν ἢ διώρυξεν καί, τοῦ μέλλοντος ἀδικεῖσθαι μὴ παρόντος, ὄφις αὐτὸν κατέφαγεν. Πιστώσασθαι οὖν τὸν λόγον βούλεται, ἢ πεῖσαι ὅτι ταῦτα οὐχ ἁπλῶς γίγνεται, ἀλλὰ τοῦ θεοῦ πέμποντος τὰ θηρία. Ἐξαίρων λίθους διαπονηθήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς. Ἐὰν πέσῃ τὸ σιδήριον, καὶ αὐτὸς πρόσωπον ἐτάραξεν, καὶ δυνάμεις δυναμώσει, καὶ περισσεία τῷ ἀνδρὶ ἐν σοφίᾳ. Ὁ ἐλέγχων πάντα πόνον ὑπομένει πολὺν καὶ πολὺν τὸν ἱδρῶτα. Ἐὰν πέσῃ τὸ σιδήριον σχίζοντος ξύλα, κινδυνεύσει ἐπ' αὐτοῖς. Τουτέστιν, οὐδὲ ἐκεῖ τι γέγονεν· ἢ τοῦτο λέγει ὅτι πολλὰς ἔχει ἀφορμὰς ὁ θεὸς τοῦ κολάζειν καὶ τιμωρεῖσθαι. Ἐὰν δάκῃ ὄφις ἐν καιρῷ θερισμοῦ, οὐκ ἔστιν περισσεία τῷ ἐπᾴδοντι.

Οὐδὲν πλέον, φησίν· τότε γὰρ χαλεπὰ τὰ δήγματα. Τοῦτο οὖν φησιν, ὅτι, ἐὰν μὴ προλαβὼν μετανοήσῃς, οὐδέν σοι πλέον ἔσται, ἀλλὰ λήψῃ πληγὴν ἀπαραμύθητον, ὅταν δέῃ θερισθῆναί σου τὸ ἁμάρτημα. Οὐκ ἔγνω ἄνθρωπος τὸ γενόμενον, καὶ τί τὸ ἐσόμενον· τί ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ, τίς ἀπαγγελεῖ αὐτῷ; [Μόχθος τῶν ἀφρόνων κακώσει αὐτόν, ὃς οὐκ ἔγνω τοῦ πορευθῆναι.] Ἴσως τε, εἰ ἦν τις ὁ <τὰ> μετὰ ταῦτα ἀπαγγέλλων αὐτῷ, ἔγνω ἂν ὅτι τὸ γενόμενον αὐτό ἐστιν τὸ μέλλον· διὰ τὸ ὀλιγοχρόνιος εἶναι, οὐκ οἶδεν τὰ πάντα. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο παραμυθίαν οὐ μικρὰν ἡμῖν ἔδωκεν τὰς γραφὰς ὁ θεός· πλὴν οὐ πάντα λέγουσιν αἱ γραφαὶ τὰ κατὰ τὸν χρόνον τὸν ἔμπροσθεν. Μόχθος ἄφρονος κακώσει αὐτόν, ὃς οὐκ ἔγνω πορευθῆναι εἰς πόλιν. Ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ λέγειν τοὺς κακουργοῦντας ἐν ταῖς ἐρημίαις, τοὺς μυρία τεκταινομένους.