Ecclesiastes 7:14
New International Version
When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future.

New Living Translation
Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life.

English Standard Version
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

Berean Standard Bible
In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come after him.

King James Bible
In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

New King James Version
In the day of prosperity be joyful, But in the day of adversity consider: Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other, So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.

New American Standard Bible
On the day of prosperity be happy, But on the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other So that a person will not discover anything that will come after him.

NASB 1995
In the day of prosperity be happy, But in the day of adversity consider— God has made the one as well as the other So that man will not discover anything that will be after him.

NASB 1977
In the day of prosperity be happy, But in the day of adversity consider— God has made the one as well as the other So that man may not discover anything that will be after him.

Legacy Standard Bible
In the day when there is good be of good cheer, But in the day when there is evil see— God has made the one as well as the other So that man will not find out anything that will be after him.

Amplified Bible
In the day of prosperity be joyful, But in the day of adversity consider that God has made the one as well as the other, So that man will not find out anything that will be after him.

Christian Standard Bible
In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that no one can discover anything that will come after him.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man cannot discover anything that will come after him.

American Standard Version
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; yea, God hath made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything that shall be after him.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
In the day of goodness be in prosperity, and in the day of evil look after your soul; God also makes this one opposite that one, so that a son of man will not find anything to say after him

Brenton Septuagint Translation
In the day of prosperity live joyfully, and consider in the day of adversity: consider, I say, God also has caused the one to agree with the other for this reason, that man should find nothing after him.

Contemporary English Version
When times are good, you should be cheerful; when times are bad, think about what it means. God makes them both to keep us from knowing what will happen next.

Douay-Rheims Bible
In the good day enjoy good things, and beware beforehand of the evil day: for God hath made both the one and the other, that man may not find against him any just complaint.

English Revised Version
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God hath even made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out any thing that shall be after him.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
When times are good, be happy. But when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one time as well as the other so that mortals cannot predict their future.

Good News Translation
When things are going well for you, be glad, and when trouble comes, just remember: God sends both happiness and trouble; you never know what is going to happen next.

International Standard Version
When times are good, be joyful; when times are bad, consider this: God made the one as well as the other, so people won't seek anything outside of his best.

JPS Tanakh 1917
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; God hath made even the one as well as the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

Literal Standard Version
In a day of prosperity be in gladness, | And in a day of calamity consider: God has also made this alongside of that, | To the intent that man does not find anything after him.

Majority Standard Bible
In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come after him.

New American Bible
On a good day enjoy good things, and on an evil day consider: Both the one and the other God has made, so that no one may find the least fault with him.

NET Bible
In times of prosperity be joyful, but in times of adversity consider this: God has made one as well as the other, so that no one can discover what the future holds.

New Revised Standard Version
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; God has made the one as well as the other, so that mortals may not find out anything that will come after them.

New Heart English Bible
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; yes, God has made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything after him.

Webster's Bible Translation
In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

World English Bible
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; yes, God has made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything after him.

Young's Literal Translation
In a day of prosperity be in gladness, And in a day of evil consider. Also this over-against that hath God made, To the intent that man doth not find anything after him.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Value of Wisdom
13Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent? 14In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come after him.

Cross References
Deuteronomy 8:5
So know in your heart that just as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

Deuteronomy 26:11
So you shall rejoice--you, the Levite, and the foreigner dwelling among you--in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household.

Job 2:10
"You speak as a foolish woman speaks," he told her. "Should we accept from God only good and not adversity?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

Ecclesiastes 3:22
I have seen that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will come after him?

Ecclesiastes 8:7
Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?

Ecclesiastes 9:7
Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:

Ecclesiastes 10:14
Yet the fool multiplies words. No one knows what is coming, and who can tell him what will come after him?


Treasury of Scripture

In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also has set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

the day

Ecclesiastes 3:4
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

Deuteronomy 28:47
Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;

Psalm 30:11,12
Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; …

but

Deuteronomy 8:3
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

1 Kings 8:47
Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;

1 Kings 17:17,18
And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him…

set

Ecclesiastes 12:8,13
Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity…

Hosea 2:6,7
Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths…

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Ecclesiastes 7
1. remedies against vanity are, a good name
2. mortification
7. patience
11. wisdom
23. The difficulty of wisdom














(14) Ecclus. 14:14, 33. The first clause may be more closely rendered, "In the good day be of good cheer." As a consolation in time of adversity the thought Job 2:10 is offered. The last clause connects itself with the first, the idea being that of Ecclesiastes 3:22; "take the present enjoyment which God gives, seeing that man cannot tell what shall be after him."

Verse 14. - In the day of prosperity be joyful; literally, in the day of good be in good i.e. when things go well with you, be cheerful (Ecclesiastes 9:7; Esther 8:17); accept the situation and enjoy it. The advice is the same as that which runs through the book, viz. to make the best of the present. So Ben-Sire says, "Defraud not thyself of the good day, and let not a share in a good desire pass thee by" (Ecclus. 14:14). Septuagint Ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἀγαθωσύνης ζῆθι ἐν αγαθῷ, "In a day of good live in (an atmosphere of) good;" Vulgate, in die bona fruere bonis, "In a good day enjoy your good things." But in the day of adversity consider; in the evil day look well. The writer could not conclude this clause so as to make it parallel with the other, or he would have had to say, "In the ill day take it ill," which would be far from his meaning; so he introduces a thought which may help to make one resigned to adversity. The reflection follows. Septuagint, Καὶ ἴδε ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κακίας ἴδε κ.τ.λ..; Vulgate, Et malam diem praecave, "Beware of the evil day." But, doubtless, the object of the verb is the following clause. God also hath set the one over against the other; or, God hath made the one corresponding to the other; i.e. he hath made the day of evil as well as the day of good. The light and shade in man's life are equally under God's ordering and permission. "What?" cries Job (Job 2:10), "shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" Corn. Lapide quotes a saying of Plutarch to this effect: the harp gives forth sounds acute and grave, and both combine to form the melody; so in man's life the mingling of prosperity and adversity yields a well-adjusted harmony. God strikes all the strings of our life's harp, and we ought, not only patiently, but cheerfully, to listen to the chords produced by this Divine Performer. To the end that man should find nothing after him. This clause gives Koheleth's view of God's object in the admixture of good and evil; but the reason has been variously interpreted, the explanation depending on the sense assigned to the term "after him" (אַתַרָיו). The Septuagint gives ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ, which is vague; the Vulgate, contra eum, meaning that man may have no occasion to complain against God. Cheyne ('Job and Solomon') considers that Koheleth here implies that death closes the scene, and that there is then nothing more to fear, rendering the clause, "On the ground that man is to experience nothing at all hereafter." They who believe that the writer held the doctrine of a future life cannot acquiesce in this view. The interpretation of Delitzsch is this - God lets man pass through the whole discipline of good and evil, that when lie dies there may be nothing which he has not experienced. Hitzig and Nowack explain the text to mean that, as God designs that man after his death shall have done with all things, he sends upon him evil as well as good, that he may not have to punish him hereafter - a doctrine opposed to the teaching of a future judgment. Wright deems the idea to be that man may be kept in ignorance of what shall happen to him beyond the grave, that the present life may afford no clue to the future. One does not see why this should be a comfort, nor how it is compatible with God's known counsel of making the condition of the future life dependent upon the conduct of this. Other explanations being more or less unsatisfactory, many modern commentators see in the passage an assertion that God intermingle8 good and evil in men's lives according to laws with which they are unacquainted, in order that they may not disquiet themselves by forecasting the future, whether in this life or after their death, but may be wholly dependent upon God, casting all their care upon him, knowing that he careth for them (1 Peter 5:7). We may safely adopt this explanation (comp. Ecclesiastes 3:22; Ecclesiastes 6:12). The paragraph then con-rains the same teaching as Horace's oft-quoted ode-

"Prudens futuri temporis exitum," etc.
(Carm.,' 3:29. 29.) Theognis', 1075 -

Πρήγματος ἀπρήκτου χαλεπώτατόν ἐστι τελεντὴν
Γνῶναι ὅπως μέλλει τοῦτο Θεὸς τελέσαι
Ορφνη γὰρ τέταται πρὸ δὲ τοῦ μέλλοντος ἔσεσθαι
Οὐ ξυνετὰ θνητοῖς πείρατ ἀμηχανίης,

"The issue of an action incomplete,
Tis hard to forecast how God may dispose it;
For it is veiled in darkest night, and man
In present hour can never comprehend
His helpless efforts."
Plumptre quotes the lines in Cleanthes's hymn to Zeus, vers. 18-21 ('Poet. Gnom.,' p. 24) -

Ἀλλὰ σὺ καὶ τὰ περισσά κ.τ.λ.

"Thou alone knowest how to change the odd
To even, and to make the crooked straight;
And things discordant find accent in thee.
Thus in one whole thou blendest ill with good,
So that one law works on for evermore."
Ben-Sira has evidently borrowed the idea in Ecclus. 33: (36.) 13-15 from our passage; after speaking of man being like clay under the potter's hand, he proceeds, "Good is set over against evil, and life over against death; so is the godly against the sinner, and the sinner against the godly. So look upon all the works of the Mast High: there are two and two, one against the ether."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
In the day
בְּי֤וֹם (bə·yō·wm)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3117: A day

of prosperity
טוֹבָה֙ (ṭō·w·ḇāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2896: Pleasant, agreeable, good

be
הֱיֵ֣ה (hĕ·yêh)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

joyful,
בְט֔וֹב (ḇə·ṭō·wḇ)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2896: Pleasant, agreeable, good

but in the day
וּבְי֥וֹם (ū·ḇə·yō·wm)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3117: A day

of adversity,
רָעָ֖ה (rā·‘āh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 7451: Bad, evil

consider this:
רְאֵ֑ה (rə·’êh)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 7200: To see

God
הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים (hā·’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

has made
עָשָׂ֣ה (‘ā·śāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

one [of these]
זֶ֤ה (zeh)
Pronoun - masculine singular
Strong's 2088: This, that

along with
לְעֻמַּת־ (lə·‘um·maṯ-)
Preposition-l
Strong's 5980: Society, near, beside, along with

the other,
זֶה֙ (zeh)
Pronoun - masculine singular
Strong's 2088: This, that

so that
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

a man
הָֽאָדָ֛ם (hā·’ā·ḏām)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 120: Ruddy, a human being

cannot
שֶׁלֹּ֨א (šel·lō)
Pronoun - relative | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

discover
יִמְצָ֧א (yim·ṣā)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 4672: To come forth to, appear, exist, to attain, find, acquire, to occur, meet, be present

anything
מְאֽוּמָה׃ (mə·’ū·māh)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3972: A speck, point, nothing

that will come after him.
אַחֲרָ֖יו (’a·ḥă·rāw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's 310: The hind or following part


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OT Poetry: Ecclesiastes 7:14 In the day of prosperity be joyful (Ecclesiast. Ec Ecc Eccles.)
Ecclesiastes 7:13
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