Catholic Public Domain Version
"There was a small city, with a few men in it. There came against it a great king, who surrounded it, and built fortifications all around it, and the blockade was completed. "
— Ecclesiastes 9:14, Catholic Public Domain Version
“There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:”
“There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it. ”
“There was a little city, and few men within it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it.”
“There was once a small city with a few men in it, and a mighty king attacked it, besieging it and building strong siege works against it.”
“A little city, and few men in it: there came against it a great king, and invested it, and built bulwarks round about it, and the siege was perfect.”
“There was a little town and the number of its men was small, and there came a great king against it and made an attack on it, building works of war round about it.”
“There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:”
I turned myself toward another thing, and I saw that under the sun, the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor wealth to the learned, nor grace to the skillful: but there is a time and an end for all these things.
Man does not know his own end. But, just as fish are caught with a hook, and birds are captured with a snare, so are men seized in the evil time, when it will suddenly overwhelm them.
This wisdom, likewise, I have seen under the sun, and I have examined it intensely.
There was a small city, with a few men in it. There came against it a great king, who surrounded it, and built fortifications all around it, and the blockade was completed.
And there was found within it, a poor and wise man, and he freed the city through his wisdom, and nothing was recorded afterward of that poor man.
And so, I declared that wisdom is better than strength. But how is it, then, that the wisdom of the poor man is treated with contempt, and his words are not heeded?
The words of the wise are heard in silence, more so than the outcry of a prince among the foolish.