Ecclesiastes 8

¹ Who is like the wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a matter? Wisdom for a man lightens up his countenance, And the harsh strength of his face is altered. ² Observe the king's bidding, And that on account of the oath of Elohim. ³ Do not be rash in going from his presence; Do not stand in an evil matter, For all that he desires he does. ⁴ For indeed a king's word has authority, And who can say to him, What are you doing? ⁵ He who observes instruction shall know no evil matter, And the wise heart shall know time and judgment. ⁶ For there is time and judgment for every event, Since the evil for a man is great upon him. ⁷ For no one knows what shall come, For just as it shall be, who can tell him? ⁸ No man has authority over the spirit to detain the spirit, And no one has authority over the day of death; There is no dismissal in war, And wickedness shall make no way of escape for its possessor. ⁹ All this I have seen and have applied my heart to all work that is done under the sun, At a time when a man has authority over another man to do evil to him; ¹⁰ In such a case I saw the wicked entombed, Those who used to come and go from the holy place And were lauded in the city where they had done such things. This too is vanity. ¹¹ Because there is no sentence executed quickly against the evil deed, Therefore the heart of the sons of humanity in them is fully given to do evil. ¹² Though a sinner does a hundred evils and days are prolonged for him, Yet I know that good shall come to those fearful of the One, Elohim, Who fear before Him. ¹³ Yet good shall not come to the wicked one, Nor shall he prolong his days like a shadow, Because there is no fear before Elohim. ¹⁴ There is another vanity that is done on the earth: There are righteous men for whom retribution is according to the work of the wicked, And there are wicked ones for whom retribution is according to the work of the righteous; I say that this too is vanity. ¹⁵ So I lauded rejoicing, Since there is no good for a man under the sun Save to eat and to drink and to rejoice. And it shall lodge with him in his toil through the days of his life, Which the One, Elohim, gives to him under the sun. ¹⁶ When I applied my heart to know wisdom, And to see the experience that is appointed on earth (For both by day and night, there is no seeing of sleep for Him with His eyes), ¹⁷ Then I saw in all the work of the One, Elohim, That a man is not able to find out the work that is done under the sun, Forasmuch as a man may toil in seeking it out but shall not find it; And even if a wise man says he knows, he is not able to find it out.