5. because the living know that they will die. But the dead know nothing at all. There is no more reward for them; even the memory of them is lost.
6. Their love and their hate, as well as their zeal, are already long gone. They will never again have a stake in all that happens under the sun.
7. Go, eat your food joyfully and drink your wine happily because God has already accepted what you do.
8. Let your garments always be white; don’t run short of oil for your head.
9. Enjoy life with your dearly loved spouse all the days of your pointless life that God gives you under the sun—all the days of your pointless life!—because that’s your part to play in this life and in your hard work under the sun.
10. Whatever you are capable of doing, do with all your might because there’s no work, thought, knowledge, or wisdom in the grave, which is where you are headed.
11. I also observed under the sun that the race doesn’t always go to the swift, nor the battle to the mighty, nor food to the wise, nor wealth to the intelligent, nor favor to the knowledgeable, because accidents can happen to anyone.
12. People most definitely don’t know when their time will come. Like fish tragically caught in a net or like birds trapped in a snare, so are human beings caught in a time of tragedy that suddenly falls to them.
13. I also observed the following example of wisdom under the sun—it impressed me greatly: