EcclesiastesChapter 8

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¹Who is like the wise man? Who knows what things mean? A man's wisdom makes his face shine. It changes the hard look on his face. ²I say, obey the king's command. Do this because of the oath you made before God. ³Do not be in a hurry to leave the king. Do not stay with a bad cause. For he will do whatever he wants. ⁴The king's word is the highest power. Who can say to him, "What are you doing?" ⁵Whoever obeys his command will not be harmed. A wise heart knows the right time and the right way. ⁶There is a right time and a right way for everything. But a man's troubles weigh heavy on him. ⁷No one knows what will happen. So who can tell him what is coming? ⁸No one has power over the wind to hold it back. In the same way, no one has power over the day he dies. No one is let go from the army in time of war. In the same way, evil will not set free those who do it. ⁹I have seen all this. I put my mind on every deed done under the sun. There is a time when one man rules over another to his own harm. ¹⁰I also saw wicked people being buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place. And they were praised in the city where they had done these things. This too is pointless. ¹¹Sometimes the punishment for a crime is not carried out quickly. Then people's hearts are fully set on doing evil. ¹²A sinner may do evil a hundred times and still live a long time. Yet I know that it will go well with those who fear God. It will go well with those who show him respect. ¹³But the wicked do not fear God. So it will not go well with them. Their days will not grow long like a shadow. ¹⁴There is something pointless that happens on the earth. Some righteous people get what the wicked deserve. And some wicked people get what the righteous deserve. I say that this too is pointless. ¹⁵So I praised the joy of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be happy. For this joy will stay with him in his work. It will stay with him all the days of life God gives him under the sun. ¹⁶I set my mind to know wisdom. I wanted to watch the work people do on the earth. Their eyes get no sleep, day or night. ¹⁷Then I saw all that God has done. No one can understand the work that is done under the sun. People try hard to search it out, but they cannot find its meaning. A wise man may say he knows, but he cannot understand it.