Ecclesiastes 8

Obey Rulers

8WHO IS like the wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his countenance is changed.H2450H3045H6592H1697H120H2451H6440H215H5797H6440H81322I counsel you to keep the king's command, and that in regard to the oath of God [by which you swore to him loyalty].H8104H4428H6310H1700H7621H4303Be not panic-stricken {and} hasty to get out of his presence. Persist not in an evil thing, for he does whatever he pleases.H926H3212H6440H5975H7451H1697H6213H26544For the word of a king is authority {and} power, and who can say to him, What are you doing?H1697H4428H7983H559H62135Whoever observes the [king's] command will experience no harm, and a wise man's mind will know both when and what to do.H8104H4687H3045H7451H1697H2450H3820H3045H6256H49416For every purpose {and} matter has its [right] time and judgment, although the misery {and} wickedness of man lies heavily upon him [who rebels against the king].H2656H3426H6256H4941H7451H120H72277For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how {and} when it will be?H3045H50468There is no man who has power over the spirit to retain the breath of life, neither has he power over the day of death; and there is no discharge in battle [against death], neither will wickedness deliver those who are its possessors {and} given to it.H120H7989H7307H3607H7307H7983H3117H4194H4917H4421H7562H4422H11679All this have I seen while applying my mind to every work that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has power over another to his own hurt {or} to the other man's.H7200H5414H3820H4639H6213H8121H6256H120H7980H745110And so I saw the wicked buried--those who had come and gone out of the holy place [but did not thereby escape their doom], and they are [praised and] forgotten in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity (emptiness, falsity, vainglory, and futility)!H3651H7200H7563H6912H935H1980H4725H6918H7911H5892H6213H189211Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, the hearts of the sons of men are fully set to do evil.H6599H7451H4639H6213H4120H3820H1121H120H4390H6213H745112Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his days [seemingly] are prolonged [in his wickedness], yet surely I know that it will be well with those who [reverently] fear God, who revere {and} worship Him, realizing His continual presence.H2398H6213H7451H3967H748H3045H2896H3373H430H3372H644013But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not [reverently] fear {and} worship God.H2896H7563H748H3117H6738H3373H6440H43014Here also is a futility that goes on upon the earth: there are righteous men who fare as though they were wicked, and wicked men who fare as though they were righteous. I say that this also is vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)!H3426H1892H6213H776H6662H5060H4639H7563H3426H7563H5060H4639H6662H559H1571H189215Then I commended enjoyment, because a man has no better thing under the sun [without God] than to eat and to drink and to be joyful, for that will remain with him in his toil through the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.H7623H8057H120H2896H8121H398H8354H8055H3867H5999H3117H2416H430H5414H812116When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to see the business activity {and} the painful effort that take place upon the earth--how neither day nor night some men's eyes sleep--H5414H3820H3045H2451H7200H6045H6213H776H3117H3915H7200H8142H586917Then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun--because however much a man may toil in seeking, yet he will not find it out; yes, more than that, though a wise man thinks {and} claims he knows, yet will he not be able to find it out.H7200H4639H430H120H3201H4672H4639H6213H8121H834H7945H120H5998H1245H4672H2450H559H3045H3201H4672