Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.[a] For there is a time and a way (A)for everything, although man's trouble[b] lies heavy on him. For he (B)does not know what is to be, for (C)who can tell him how it will be?

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 8:5 Or and judgment
  2. Ecclesiastes 8:6 Or evil

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,(A)
    though a person may be weighed down by misery.

Since no one knows the future,
    who can tell someone else what is to come?

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11 Because (A)the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, (B)the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.

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11 When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong.

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