Here is a well-known verse from Ecclesiastes:
I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
In contrast,
here it is in modern English:
Objective considerations of contemporary phenomena compel the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account.
Language matters. The King James version abides and sustains me. Those words abide for example when I pray for our young warriors who seek to preserve peace throughout the world — and when I hear of persons I know who have serious medical conditions. Time and chance are such important variables in Life. What say you?
