Ecclesiastes 7:29–8:9

²⁹One thing I have learned:

God made people good,

but they have found all kinds of ways to be bad.”

Obey the King

8No one is like the wise person

who can understand what things mean.

Wisdom brings happiness;

it makes sad faces happy.

²Obey the king’s command, because you made a promise to God. ³Don’t be too quick to leave the king. Don’t support something that is wrong, because the king does whatever he pleases. ⁴What the king says is law; no one tells him what to do.

⁵Whoever obeys the king’s command will be safe.

A wise person does the right thing at the right time.

⁶There is a right time and a right way for everything,

yet people often have many troubles.

⁷They do not know what the future holds,

and no one can tell them what will happen.

⁸No one can control the wind

or stop his own death.

No soldier is released in times of war,

and evil does not set free those who do evil.

Justice, Rewards, and Punishment

⁹I saw all of this as I considered all that is done here on earth. Sometimes people harm those they control.