Ecclesiastes 8

Wisdom, Authorities, and Inequities

8Who is like the wise person, and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed. ⁿ

²Keep ^othe king’s command because of your oath made before God. ^p3Do not be in a hurry; leave his presence, ^qand don’t persist in a bad cause, since he will do whatever he wants. ⁴For the king’s word is authoritative, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?” ^r5The one who keeps a command will not experience anything harmful, ^sand a wise heart knows the right time and procedure. ⁶For every activity there is a right time and procedure, ^teven though man’s troubles are heavy on him. ⁷Yet no one knows what will happen ^ubecause who can tell him what will happen? ⁸No one has authority over the wind ^vto restrain it, ^wand there is no authority over the day of death; ^xthere is no furlough in battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape. ⁹All this I have seen, applying my mind to all the work that is done under the sun, at a time when one man has authority over another to his harm.

¹⁰In such circumstances, I saw the wicked buried. They came and went from the holy place, ^yand they were praised ^zin the city where they did so. This too is futile. ¹¹Because the sentence against a criminal act is not carried out quickly, ^athe heart of people is filled with the desire to commit crime. ¹²Although a sinner commits crime a hundred times and prolongs his life, ^byet I also know that it will go well with God-fearing people, ^cfor they are reverent before Him. ¹³However, it will not go well with the wicked, ^dand they will not lengthen their days like a shadow, ^efor they are not reverent before God.

¹⁴There is a futility that is done on the earth: there are righteous people who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, ^fand there are wicked people who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. ^gI say that this too is futile. ¹⁵So I commended enjoyment because there is nothing better for man under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy himself, ^hfor this will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

¹⁶When I applied my mind to know wisdom ⁱand to observe the activity that is done on the earth (even though one’s eyes do not close in sleep day or night), ¹⁷I observed all the work of God and concluded that man is unable to discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though a man labors hard to explore it, he cannot find it; ^jeven if the wise man claims to know it, he is unable to discover it.