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Ecclesiastes 8:7-13
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 8:7-13
New International Version
7 Since no one knows the future,
who can tell someone else what is to come?
8 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.
9 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. 10 Then too, I saw the wicked buried(A)—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise[c] in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.
11 When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. 12 Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better(B) with those who fear God,(C) who are reverent before him.(D) 13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God,(E) it will not go well with them, and their days(F) will not lengthen like a shadow.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 8:8 Or over the human spirit to retain it, / and so
- Ecclesiastes 8:9 Or to their
- Ecclesiastes 8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint (Aquila); most Hebrew manuscripts and are forgotten
Ecclesiastes 8:7-13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Ecclesiastes 8:7-13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
7 Indeed, they do not know what is to be, for who can tell them how it will be?(A) 8 No one has power over the wind[a] to restrain the wind[b] or power over the day of death; there is no discharge from the battle, nor does wickedness deliver those who practice it.(B) 9 All this I observed, applying my mind to all that is done under the sun, while one person exercises authority over another to the other’s hurt.(C)
God’s Ways Are Inscrutable
10 Then I saw the wicked approaching to sacrifice;[c] they go in and out of the holy place, and they boast[d] in the city that they have done such things. This also is vanity. 11 Because sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the human heart is fully set to do evil. 12 Though sinners do evil a hundred times and prolong their lives, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they stand in fear before him,(D) 13 but it will not be well with the wicked, neither will they prolong their days like a shadow, because they do not stand in fear before God.(E)
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