Ecclesiastes 9:11-13

Holman Christian Standard Bible

The Limitations of Wisdom

¹¹ Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift,^(A) or the battle to the strong,^(B) or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them. ¹² For man certainly does not know his time:^(C) like fish caught in a cruel net or like birds caught in a trap,^(D) so people are trapped in an evil time^(E) as it suddenly falls on them.^(F)

¹³ I have observed that this also is wisdom under the sun, and it is significant to me: