Study Desk

Who 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.^(a)

Keep^[a] the king's command because of your oath made before God.^(b)

Do not be in a hurry; leave his presence,^(c) and don't persist in a bad cause, since he will do whatever he wants.

For the king's word is authoritative, and who can say to him, "What are you doing?"^(d)

The one who keeps a command will not experience anything harmful,^(e) and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.

For every activity there is a right time and procedure,^(f) even though man's troubles are heavy on him.

Yet no one knows what will happen^(g) because who can tell him what will happen?

No one has authority over the wind^[b] to restrain it,^(h) and there is no authority over the day of death;⁽ⁱ⁾ there is no furlough in battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape.

All 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.

In such circumstances, I saw the wicked buried. They came and went from the holy place,^(j) and they were praised^[c] in the city where they did so. This too is futile.

Because the sentence against a criminal act is not carried out quickly,^(k) the heart of people is filled with the desire to commit crime.

Although a sinner commits crime a hundred times and prolongs his life,^(l) yet I also know that it will go well with God-fearing people,^(m) for they are reverent before Him.

However, it will not go well with the wicked,⁽ⁿ⁾ and they will not lengthen their days like a shadow,^(o) for they are not reverent before God.

There is a futility that is done on the earth: there are righteous people who get what the actions of the wicked deserve,^(p) and there are wicked people who get what the actions of the righteous deserve.^(q) I say that this too is futile.

So I commended enjoyment because there is nothing better for man under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy himself,^(r) for this will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

When I applied my mind to know wisdom^(s) and to observe the activity that is done on the earth (even though one's eyes do not close in sleep day or night),

I 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;^(t) even if the wise man claims to know it, he is unable to discover it.