Ecclesiastes 8:7-13
Holman Christian Standard Bible
7 Yet no one knows what will happen(A) because who can tell him what will happen? 8 No one has authority over the wind[a] to restrain it,(B) and there is no authority over the day of death;(C) there is no furlough in battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape. 9 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.
10 In such circumstances, I saw the wicked buried. They came and went from the holy place,(D) and they were praised[b] in the city where they did so. This too is futile. 11 Because the sentence against a criminal act is not carried out quickly,(E) the heart of people is filled with the desire to commit crime. 12 Although a sinner commits crime a hundred times and prolongs his life,(F) yet I also know that it will go well with God-fearing people,(G) for they are reverent before Him. 13 However, it will not go well with the wicked,(H) and they will not lengthen their days like a shadow,(I) for they are not reverent before God.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ecclesiastes 8:8 Or life-breath
- Ecclesiastes 8:10 Some Hb mss, LXX, Aq, Theod, Sym; other Hb mss read forgotten
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