He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful;
And a wise man’s heart [a]discerns both time and judgment,
Because (A)for every matter there is a time and judgment,
Though the misery of man [b]increases greatly.
(B)For he does not know what will happen;
So who can tell him when it will occur?
(C)No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit,
And no one has power in the day of death.
There is (D)no release from that war,
And wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it.

All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 8:5 Lit. knows
  2. Ecclesiastes 8:6 is great upon him

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?
As no one has power over the wind to contain it,
    so[a] no one has power over the time of their death.
As no one is discharged in time of war,
    so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own[b] hurt.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 8:8 Or over the human spirit to retain it, / and so
  2. Ecclesiastes 8:9 Or to their