Ecclesiastes 8:8–9

8 As no one has power over the wind to contain it,

so no one has power over the time of their death.

As no one is discharged in time of war,

so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

9 All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt.

8 No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. 9 All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.

8 There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it. 9 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.

8 None of us can hold back our spirit from departing. None of us has the power to prevent the day of our death. There is no escaping that obligation, that dark battle. And in the face of death, wickedness will certainly not rescue the wicked.

9 I have thought deeply about all that goes on here under the sun, where people have the power to hurt each other.

8 No 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.

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

8 There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power over the day of death; and there is no discharge in war: neither shall wickedness deliver him that is given to it.

9 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man hath power over another to his hurt.

8 There is no man who hath control over the spirit to retain the spirit; and no one hath control over the day of death; and there is no discharge in that war, neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.

9 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time when man ruleth man to his hurt.

8 No one has the power to prevent the spiritof life from leaving. No one has control over the day of his own death. There is no way to avoid the war ⸤against death⸥. Wickedness will not save wicked people ⸤from dying⸥. 

9 I have seen all of this, and I have carefully considered all that is done under the sun whenever one person has authority to hurt others.

8 No one has authority over the wind to restrain it, and there is no authority over the day of death; there is no furlough in battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape. 9 All 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.

8 No one has power over the wind to restrain the wind or power over the day of death; there is no discharge from the battle, nor does wickedness deliver those who practice it. 9 All this I observed, applying my mind to all that is done under the sun, while one person exercises authority over another to the other’s hurt.

8 Just as no one can control the wind to restrain the wind,

so also no one can control the day of his death.

Just as no one is discharged in time of war,

so wickedness will not deliver the wicked.

9 I saw all this as I applied my heart to all the deeds done under the sun: sometimes those in authority harm others.

8 He can’t stop the wind from blowing.

And he doesn’t have the power to decide when he will die.

No one is let out of the army in times of war.

And evil won’t let go of those who practice it.

9 I understood all of those things. I used my mind to study everything that’s done on earth. A man sometimes makes life hard for others. But he ends up hurting himself.

8 No man has authority to restrain the wind with the wind, or authority over the day of death; and there is no discharge in the time of war, and evil will not deliver those who practice it.

9 All this I have seen and applied my mind to every deed that has been done under the sun wherein a man has exercised authority over another man to his hurt.