Ecclesiastes 9:12-14

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

¹² For no one can anticipate one’s time. Like fish taken in a cruel net or like birds caught in a snare, so mortals are snared at a time of calamity, when it suddenly falls upon them.^(A)

Wisdom Superior to Folly

¹³ I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. ¹⁴ There was a little city with few people in it. A great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it.