Ecclesiastes 8 - Prayer Tents



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Ecclesiastes 8
Holman Christian Standard Bible Help

Wisdom, Authorities, and Inequities

8Who is like the wise person, and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man's wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.H2450H3045H6592H1697H120H2451H6440H215H5797H6440H81322Keep the king's command. Concerning an oath by God,H8104H4428H6310H1700H7621H4303do not be in a hurry. Leave his presence, and don't persist in a bad cause, since he will do whatever he wants.H926H3212H6440H5975H7451H1697H6213H26544For the king's word is authoritative, and who can say to him, "What are you doing?"H1697H4428H7983H559H62135The one who keeps a command will not experience anything harmful, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.H8104H4687H3045H7451H1697H2450H3820H3045H6256H49416For every activity there is a right time and procedure, even though man's troubles are heavy on him.H2656H3426H6256H4941H7451H120H72277Yet no one knows what will happen, because who can tell him what will happen?H3045H50468No 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.H120H7989H7307H3607H7307H7983H3117H4194H4917H4421H7562H4422H11679All 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.H7200H5414H3820H4639H6213H8121H6256H120H7980H745110In such circumstances, I saw the wicked buried. They came and went from the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they did so. This too is futile.H3651H7200H7563H6912H935H1980H4725H6918H7911H5892H6213H189211Because the sentence against a criminal act is not carried out quickly, therefore the heart of people is filled [with the desire] to commit crime.H6599H7451H4639H6213H4120H3820H1121H120H4390H6213H745112Although a sinner commits crime a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I also know that it will go well with God-fearing people, for they are reverent before Him.H2398H6213H7451H3967H748H3045H2896H3373H430H3372H644013However, it will not go well with the wicked, and they will not lengthen their days like a shadow, for they are not reverent before God.H2896H7563H748H3117H6738H3373H6440H43014There is a futility that is done on the earth: there are righteous people who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked people who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.H3426H1892H6213H776H6662H5060H4639H7563H3426H7563H5060H4639H6662H559H1571H189215So I commended enjoyment, because there is nothing better for man under the sun except to eat, drink, and enjoy himself, for this will accompany him in his labor during the years of his days that God gives him under the sun.H7623H8057H120H2896H8121H398H8354H8055H3867H5999H3117H2416H430H5414H812116When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the activity that is done on the earth (even though one's eyes do not close in sleep day or night),H5414H3820H3045H2451H7200H6045H6213H776H3117H3915H7200H8142H586917I observed all the work of God [and concluded] that man is unable to discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though a man labors hard to explore it, he cannot find it; even if the wise man claims to know it, he is unable to discover it.H7200H4639H430H120H3201H4672H4639H6213H8121H834H7945H120H5998H1245H4672H2450H559H3045H3201H4672


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