Ecclesiastes 8
1 Who is like the wise person? Who knows how to explain a matter? A person's wisdom lights up their face, and their stern expression is changed.
2 I say: Keep the king's command, because of the oath made to God.
3 Do not be quick to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad course, because he does whatever he pleases.
4 For the king's word has authority. Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 Whoever keeps the command will know no harm, and the wise heart knows the right time and judgment.
6 For there is a time and judgment for every purpose, though human misery weighs heavily on a person.
7 For no one knows what will happen. Who can tell them how it will be?
8 No one has power over the breath to hold it back; no one has power over the day of death. There is no discharge in that battle, and wickedness cannot rescue the one who practices it.
9 I saw all this when I set my heart on every deed done under the sun: there was a time when one person ruled over another, to that person's harm.
10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to come and go from the holy place, and they were forgotten in the city where they had acted this way. This too is a breath.
11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not carried out quickly, people's hearts become fully set on doing evil.
12 Though a sinner may do evil a hundred times and live a long time, I know that all will go well for those who fear God, those who stand in awe before him.
13 But it will not go well for the wicked, and they will not live long; their days are like a shadow, because they do not stand in awe before God.
14 There is a breath-like thing that happens on earth: the righteous receive what the wicked deserve, and the wicked receive what the righteous deserve. I said that this too is a breath.
15 So I praised joy, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat, drink, and be joyful. This will accompany them in their work throughout the days of the life God has given them under the sun.
16 I set my heart on understanding wisdom and observing the work done on earth, for there are people who see no sleep in their eyes, day or night.
17 Then I saw all the work of God: no one can discover what is done under the sun. No matter how hard a person searches, they cannot discover it. Even if the wise say they know, they cannot discover it.
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