Obey the King

Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence.(A) Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?(B)

Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,
    and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter,(C)
    though a person may be weighed down by misery.

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Keep[a] the king’s command because of your oath made before God.(A) Do not be in a hurry; leave his presence,(B) 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?”(C) The one who keeps a command will not experience anything harmful,(D) and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure. For every activity there is a right time and procedure,(E) even though man’s troubles are heavy on him.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 8:2 Some Hb mss, LXX, Vg, Tg, Syr; other Hb mss read I, keep

I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God.

Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.

Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?

Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.

Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.

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