Ecclesiastes 8:1–9

Keep the Command of the King

¹Who is like the wise man and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom ^aillumines his face and causes his ^bstern face to ¹beam.

²I say, “Keep the ¹command of the king because of the ^asworn oath ²before God.

³“Do not be in a hurry ^ato go from his presence. Do not stand in an evil matter, for he will do whatever he pleases.”

⁴Since the word of the king is powerful, ^awho will say to him, “What are you doing?”

⁵He who ^akeeps a royal command ^bexperiences no evil thing, for a wise heart knows the proper time and custom.

⁶For ^athere is a proper time and custom for every ¹matter, though a man’s trouble is multiplied upon him.

⁷If no one ^aknows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen?

^8aThere is no man who has power to restrain the wind with the wind, and there is none who has power over the day of death; and there is no discharge in the time of war, and ^bwickedness will not provide escape to its masters.

⁹All this I have seen and given my heart to every work that has been done under the sun wherein a man has ^apower over another man to his calamity.