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¹ Who is as the wise? And who knows the meaning of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the boldness of his face is changed.² I say , Keep the king's word, even on the matter of the oath of God;³ do not be hasty to go from before him. Do not take a stand in an evil thing, for he does whatever he pleases.⁴ Because the king's word is that which has power; who then will say to him, What are you doing?⁵ Whoever keeps the command shall know no evil thing. A wise man's heart knows both time and judgment.

⁶ Because there is a time and judgment to every purpose, in this the evil of man is great upon him.⁷ For he does not know what shall be. For who can tell him when it shall be?⁸ Man is not a ruler over the spirit, to restrain the spirit; nor has he power in the day of death. And there is no discharge in that war, nor shall wickedness deliver its possessors.

⁹ All this I have seen. I gave my heart to every work that is done under the sun. There is a time in which a man rules over a man for his evil.¹⁰ And so I saw the wicked buried; and they came and went from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city, these things that they had done. This is also vanity.¹¹ Where sentence on an evil work is not executed speedily, on account of this the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.¹² Though a sinner does evil a hundred times , and his days are prolonged to him, yet surely I know that it shall be well to those who fear God, who fear before Him.¹³ But it shall not be well for the wicked; and he shall not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God.

¹⁴ There is a vanity which is done on the earth: There are just ones to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; and there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.¹⁵ Then I praised mirth, because nothing is good for man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be glad. For that shall go with him in his labor for the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.¹⁶ When I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on the earth; for even by day and by night he does not see sleep in his eyes.¹⁷ Then I looked at all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun; because though a man labors to seek it out, yet he shall not find it. And even if the wise speaks of knowing, he shall not be ableto find it .