Ecclesiastes 8

8How wonderful to be wise, to analyze and interpret things. Wisdom lights up a person’s face, softening its harshness.H2450H3045H6592H1697H120H2451H6440H215H5797H6440H8132

Obedience to the King

2Obey the king since you vowed to God that you would.H8104H4428H6310H1700H7621H4303Don’t try to avoid doing your duty, and don’t stand with those who plot evil, for the king can do whatever he wants.H926H3212H6440H5975H7451H1697H6213H26544His command is backed by great power. No one can resist or question it.H1697H4428H7983H559H62135Those who obey him will not be punished. Those who are wise will find a time and a way to do what is right,H8104H4687H3045H7451H1697H2450H3820H3045H6256H49416for there is a time and a way for everything, even when a person is in trouble.H2656H3426H6256H4941H7451H120H72277Indeed, how can people avoid what they don’t know is going to happen?H3045H50468None 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.H120H7989H7307H3607H7307H7983H3117H4194H4917H4421H7562H4422H1167

The Wicked and the Righteous

9I have thought deeply about all that goes on here under the sun, where people have the power to hurt each other.H7200H5414H3820H4639H6213H8121H6256H120H7980H745110I have seen wicked people buried with honor. Yet they were the very ones who frequented the Temple and are now praised

in the same city where they committed their crimes! This, too, is meaningless.H3651H7200H7563H6912H935H1980H4725H6918H7911H5892H6213H189211When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong.H6599H7451H4639H6213H4120H3820H1121H120H4390H6213H745112But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear God will be better off.H2398H6213H7451H3967H748H3045H2896H3373H430H3372H644013The wicked will not prosper, for they do not fear God. Their days will never grow long like the evening shadows.H2896H7563H748H3117H6738H3373H6440H43014And this is not all that is meaningless in our world. In this life, good people are often treated as though they were wicked, and wicked people are often treated as though they were good. This is so meaningless!H3426H1892H6213H776H6662H5060H4639H7563H3426H7563H5060H4639H6662H559H1571H189215So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.H7623H8057H120H2896H8121H398H8354H8055H3867H5999H3117H2416H430H5414H812116In my search for wisdom and in my observation of people’s burdens here on earth, I discovered that there is ceaseless activity, day and night.H5414H3820H3045H2451H7200H6045H6213H776H3117H3915H7200H8142H586917I realized that no one can discover everything God is doing under the sun. Not even the wisest people discover everything, no matter what they claim.H7200H4639H430H120H3201H4672H4639H6213H8121H834H7945H120H5998H1245H4672H2450H559H3045H3201H4672