Ecclesiastes 8 — The Holy Bible

Who knows the wise?

And who knows the interpretation of a thing?

A man's wisdom makes his face shine,

And a man shameless in face will be hated.

Obey Those Who Rule

Ecclesiastes 8, verse 2. Keep the king's commandment and spare no effort for the sake of your oath to God. Ecclesiastes 8, verse 3. You will go out from his presence, but do not stand with an evil thing, for the king will do whatever he pleases.

Insofar as a king has authority, he speaks,

And who will say to him,

“Why will you do this?”

He who keeps his commandment will not know an evil thing,

And a wise man's heart knows the time of judgment.

For to every matter there is a time and a judgment,

Because the knowledge of a man lies heavily upon him.

For there is no one who knows what is going to be;

For who will tell him how it shall be?

No one has the authority over his spirit to withhold his spirit,

And no one has authority in the day of his death.

There is no discharge in that war,

And ungodliness will not save those given to it.

Ecclesiastes 8, verse 9. I saw all this and gave my heart to every work done under the sun wherein one man has authority over another man to injure him.

Death Visits All

Ecclesiastes 8, verse 10. Then I saw the ungodly buried in their tombs and brought from their holy place and praised in the city for what they had done. But this also is vanity. Ecclesiastes 8, verse 11. For no controversy comes quickly against those who do evil; therefore, the heart of the sons of men is fully determined within them to do evil. Ecclesiastes 8, verse 12. Whoever sins does evil from that time on and for a long time afterwards; nevertheless, I know that it shall be well for those who fear God so long as they have fear before Him. Ecclesiastes 8, verse 13. But it shall not be well with the ungodly man; he will not prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not have fear before God.

Ecclesiastes 8, verse 14. There is a vanity that is done on earth: there are the righteous as when the work of the ungodly overtakes them, and there are the ungodly as when the work of the righteous overtakes them. I said that this also is vanity. Ecclesiastes 8, verse 15. So I praised merriment, because a man has nothing better to do under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will be present with him in his labor all the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 8, verse 16. For this reason I committed my heart to know wisdom and to see the distractions done on earth; nevertheless, he receives no sleep, day or night. Ecclesiastes 8, verse 17. Then I saw all the works of God, that a man cannot discover how He does His work under the sun. No matter how much a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it out. And no matter how much a wise man may speak of knowing it, he will not be able to find it out.