Ecclesiastes 9:14

Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

There was a small city with a few men in it, and a great king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siegeworks around it.

Additional Resources

Other Translations

  • King James Version 1769 (Standard 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:

  • KJV1611 – Modern English

    There was a little city with few men in it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great siege works against it.

  • King James Version 1611 (Original)

    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:

  • American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

    There was a little{H6996} city,{H5892} and few{H4592} men{H582} within it; and there came{H935} a great{H1419} king{H4428} against it, and besieged{H5437} it, and built{H1129} great{H1419} bulwarks{H4685} against it.

  • King James Version with Strong's Numbers

    There was a little{H6996} city{H5892}, and few{H4592} men{H582} within it; and there came{H935}{(H8804)} a great{H1419} king{H4428} against it, and besieged{H5437}{(H8804)} it, and built{H1129}{(H8804)} great{H1419} bulwarks{H4685} against it:

  • Coverdale Bible (1535)

    There was a litle cite, & a few me within it: so there came a greate kynge & beseged it, & made greate bulworkes agaynst it.

  • Geneva Bible (1560)

    A litle citie and fewe men in it, and a great King came against it, and compassed it about, and builded fortes against it.

  • Bishops' Bible (1568)

    There was a litle citie and a few men within it: so there came a great kyng and besieged it, and made great bulwarkes against it.

  • Authorized King James Version (1611)

    [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:

  • Webster's Bible (1833)

    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.

  • Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

    A little city, and few men in it, and a great king hath come unto it, and hath surrounded it, and hath built against it great bulwarks;

  • American Standard Version (1901)

    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.

  • American Standard Version (1901)

    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.

  • Bible in Basic English (1941)

    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.

  • World English Bible (2000)

    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.

  • NET Bible® (New English Translation)

    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.

Referenced Verses

  • 2 Sam 20:15-22 : 15 Joab’s troops came and besieged Sheba in Abel Beth Maacah. They built a siege ramp against the city and stood against the outer rampart. As they worked to breach the wall, 16 a wise woman called out from the city, "Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come here so I can speak to him." 17 When he approached her, the woman asked, "Are you Joab?" "I am," he replied. She said, "Listen to what your servant has to say." "I’m listening," he said. 18 She continued, "In the past, people said, 'Seek advice in Abel,' and that is how matters were settled. 19 I am one of the peaceful and faithful in Israel. You are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why do you want to devour the LORD's inheritance?" 20 Joab replied, "Far be it from me to devour or destroy the city! 21 That is not the case. A man named Sheba, son of Bichri, from the hill country of Ephraim, has raised his hand against King David. Hand him over, and I will withdraw from the city." The woman said to Joab, "His head will be thrown to you from the wall." 22 Then the woman went to all the people with her wise counsel, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. He blew the horn, and the troops dispersed from the city, each returning to his home. And Joab went back to the king in Jerusalem.
  • 2 Kgs 6:24-7:20 : 24 Afterward, Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, gathered his entire army and marched up to lay siege to Samaria. 25 There was a great famine in Samaria, and it lasted until a donkey's head sold for eighty pieces of silver, and a quarter of a kab of dove's dung went for five pieces of silver. 26 As the king of Israel was walking along the city wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, "Help me, my lord the king!" 27 He answered, "If the LORD does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?" 28 Then the king asked her, "What is your problem?" She replied, "This woman said to me, 'Give me your son so we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.' 29 So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day, I said to her, 'Give me your son so we may eat him,' but she had hidden her son." 30 When the king heard the woman's words, he tore his clothes. As he was walking on the wall, the people saw that he was wearing sackcloth underneath, next to his skin. 31 He said, "May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!" 32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, "Do you see how this murderer is sending someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger arrives, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Is not the sound of his master's footsteps behind him?" 33 While he was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him. The king said, "This disaster is from the LORD. Why should I wait any longer for the LORD?" 1 Elisha said, "Listen to the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel at the gate of Samaria." 2 The officer on whose arm the king was leaning replied to the man of God, "Even if the Lord were to open the floodgates of heaven, could this happen?" Elisha answered, "You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it." 3 Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the gate. They said to each other, "Why should we sit here until we die?" 4 If we say, 'We’ll go into the city,' the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die." 5 At twilight, they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, they found no one there. 6 For the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army, so they said to one another, "Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!" 7 So they got up and fled in the twilight, abandoning their tents, horses, and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives. 8 The men with leprosy reached the edge of the camp, entered one of the tents, and ate and drank. Then they took silver, gold, and clothes and went off and hid them. They returned, entered another tent, took some things from it, and hid them also. 9 Then they said to each other, "What we’re doing is not right. This is a day of good news, and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go and report this at the royal palace." 10 So they went and called out to the gatekeepers of the city, telling them, "We went to the Aramean camp and found no one there—not a single man—only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents left just as they were." 11 The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported inside the palace. 12 The king got up in the night and said to his servants, "I will tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are hungry, so they have gone out of the camp to hide in the countryside, thinking, 'When they come out of the city, we will capture them alive and take the city.'" 13 One of his servants replied, "Let some men take five of the remaining horses that are left here. Their fate will be like that of all the Israelites who are left—yes, they will be like all the Israelites who have perished. Let us send them out to find out what has happened." 14 So they took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean camp, saying, "Go and see." 15 They followed them as far as the Jordan, and they found the whole way littered with clothes and equipment the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. So the messengers returned and reported to the king. 16 Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley were sold for a shekel, as the Lord had said. 17 Now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, but the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to his house. 18 It happened just as the man of God had said to the king: "About this time tomorrow, two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel and a seah of fine flour for a shekel at the gate of Samaria." 19 The officer had answered the man of God, "Look, even if the Lord were to open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?" The man of God had replied, "You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!" 20 And that is exactly what happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Eccl 9:15-16
    2 verses
    82%

    15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

    16 So I said, 'Wisdom is better than strength.' But the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.

  • Eccl 9:13
    79%

    13 I also saw this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me.

  • Neh 7:4
    77%

    4 The city was spacious and large, but its people were few, and there were no houses built yet.

  • Prov 21:22
    74%

    22 A wise person ascends the city of warriors and brings down the fortress in which they trust.

  • Eccl 7:19
    74%

    19 Wisdom makes a wise person stronger than ten rulers in a city.

  • Job 3:14
    74%

    14 With kings and counselors of the earth who built ruins for themselves.

  • Luke 14:30-31
    2 verses
    72%

    30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

    31 Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to face the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

  • Judg 9:51
    71%

    51 Now there was a strong tower in the middle of the city, and all the men and women, along with the city's leaders, fled there. They shut themselves inside and climbed up to the roof of the tower.

  • Prov 18:11
    71%

    11 The wealth of the rich is like their fortified city; they imagine it is a wall too high to scale.

  • Ezek 4:2
    70%

    2 Build siege works against it, construct a ramp, set up camps around it, and place battering rams against it all around.

  • Nah 2:5
    70%

    5 The chariots race wildly through the streets; they rush back and forth in the squares. Their appearance is like torches, and they dart about like lightning.

  • Nah 3:14
    70%

    14 Draw water for the siege, strengthen your fortresses. Go into the clay and tread the mortar; take hold of the brick mold.

  • Prov 10:15
    70%

    15 The wealth of the rich is their fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor.

  • 2 Chr 14:7
    70%

    7 Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah bearing large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin carrying shields and drawing bows. All of them were mighty warriors.

  • Prov 24:31-32
    2 verses
    70%

    31 Thorns had grown all over it, the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.

    32 I observed and took it to heart; I saw it and received instruction.

  • 2 Chr 17:12
    69%

    12 Jehoshaphat grew greater and greater, and he built fortresses and storage cities in Judah.

  • Ezek 26:9
    69%

    9 'He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls, and he will demolish your towers with his weapons.'

  • Isa 22:10
    69%

    10 You counted the houses of Jerusalem and tore down houses to fortify the wall.

  • Isa 26:1
    69%

    1 On that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah: 'We have a strong city; salvation will God set as walls and ramparts.'

  • Dan 11:15
    69%

    15 So the king of the North will come and build siege ramps and capture a fortified city. The forces of the South will not stand; even their best troops will have no strength to resist.

  • Deut 3:5
    69%

    5 All these cities were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides many unwalled rural towns.

  • Eccl 2:9
    69%

    9 I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom stayed with me.

  • 2 Sam 20:15
    69%

    15 Joab’s troops came and besieged Sheba in Abel Beth Maacah. They built a siege ramp against the city and stood against the outer rampart. As they worked to breach the wall,

  • Amos 5:9
    69%

    9 He flashes destruction upon the mighty and brings ruin upon the fortified city.

  • Jer 1:18
    68%

    18 Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.

  • Prov 11:11
    68%

    11 By the blessing of the upright, a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked, it is torn down.

  • Prov 29:8
    68%

    8 Mockers stir up a city, but the wise calm anger.

  • Isa 24:12
    68%

    12 Only desolation is left in the city; the gate is battered into ruins.

  • Hag 2:16
    68%

    16 from that time, when one came to a grain heap of twenty measures, only ten were there; when one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, only twenty were there.

  • Prov 14:28
    68%

    28 A large population is a king's glory, but without subjects, a ruler is ruined.

  • 2 Chr 33:14
    68%

    14 Afterward, he rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David west of Gihon in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate and surrounding the Ophel. He made it much higher. He also placed military commanders in all the fortified cities in Judah.

  • Zeph 1:16
    68%

    16 It is a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the high towers.

  • Isa 41:28
    67%

    28 When I look, there is no one; there is no counselor among these whom I could ask, and who could give an answer.

  • 2 Chr 15:5-6
    2 verses
    67%

    5 In those days, there was no peace for those who went out or those who came in, but great unrest troubled all the inhabitants of the lands.

    6 Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress.

  • Isa 2:15
    67%

    15 It will come against every high tower and every fortified wall.

  • Job 12:14
    67%

    14 "What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man He imprisons cannot be set free."

  • Job 29:7
    67%

    7 When I went out to the city gate, and took my seat in the public square,

  • Ps 55:10
    67%

    10 Confuse, O Lord, and divide their speech, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

  • Prov 24:6
    67%

    6 For with wise counsel you wage war, and in an abundance of advisers there is victory.

  • Eccl 9:18
    67%

    18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

  • Ps 37:16
    67%

    16 Better is the little that the righteous have than the abundance of many wicked.

  • Isa 3:2
    67%

    2 The mighty man and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder.

  • 2 Kgs 24:10
    67%

    10 At that time, the servants of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged the city.

  • Zech 2:4
    67%

    4 I asked, 'What are these coming to do?' And he answered, 'These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could lift his head. But these craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down the horns of the nations who lifted their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.'