I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.
12 Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come:
As fish are caught in a cruel net,
or birds are taken in a snare,
so men are trapped by evil times
that fall unexpectedly upon them.
這兩節描述了詩人看見日光之下有著這樣的事:
跑得快的不一定獲勝,
強壯的不一定戰勝;
有智慧的不一定得著食物,
有才華的不一定得著財富,
有學問的不一定得著喜愛,
這些的發生都在於時機。
因此詩人便發出感嘆:沒有人知道他的定期什麼時候會到。
第九章至此,詩人說出一個這樣的感嘆:世人都將擁有一死,所以當趁著活著的時候,
快樂吃喝、辛勤工作、愛其所愛。然而,詩人也有這樣的看見,世上所得並非努力就可得著,
因為人何其有限,沒有人知道他的定期什麼時候會到。