Ecclesiastes 8:4-8

New King James Version

⁴ Where the word of a king is, there is power;
And ^(A)who may say to him, “What are you doing?”
⁵ He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful;
And a wise man’s heart ^[a]discerns both time and judgment,
⁶ Because ^(B)for every matter there is a time and judgment,
Though the misery of man ^[b]increases greatly.
^7 (C)For he does not know what will happen;
So who can tell him when it will occur?
^8 (D)No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit,
And no one has power in the day of death.
There is ^(E)no release from that war,
And wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it.