Ecclesiastes 9:12

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Summary

For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

Man

As the fishes

Proverbs 7:22

Habakkuk 1:14

2 Timothy 2:26

The sons

General references

Ezekiel 32:3

Amos 3:5

Bible References

Man

Whoever obeys his command will not experience harm, and a wise person knows the proper time and procedure.

saying, "If you had only known on this day, even you, the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

For he says, "I heard you at the acceptable time, and in the day of salvation I helped you." Look, now is the acceptable time; look, now is the day of salvation!

and maintain good conduct among the non-Christians, so that though they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears.

As the fishes

Suddenly he went after her like an ox that goes to the slaughter, like a stag prancing into a trapper's snare

You made people like fish in the sea, like animals in the sea that have no ruler.

and they will come to their senses and escape the devil's trap where they are held captive to do his will.

The sons

For he has been thrown into a net by his feet and he wanders into a mesh.

May the Lord rain down burning coals and brimstone on the wicked! A whirlwind is what they deserve!

Surely you put them in slippery places; you bring them down to ruin.

Therefore, his disaster will come suddenly; in an instant he will be broken, and there will be no remedy.

In the transgression of an evil person there is a snare, but a righteous person can sing and rejoice.

So this sin will become your downfall. You will be like a high wall that bulges and cracks and is ready to collapse; it crumbles suddenly, in a flash.

But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man.

"But be on your guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day close down upon you suddenly like a trap.

Now when they are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape.

But these men, like irrational animals -- creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed -- do not understand whom they are insulting, and consequently in their destruction they will be destroyed,

General references

"'This is what the sovereign Lord says: "'I will throw my net over you in the assembly of many peoples; and they will haul you up in my dragnet.

Does a bird swoop down into a trap on the ground if there is no bait? Does a trap spring up from the ground unless it has surely caught something?