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Ecclesiastes 8:7-13
Lexham English Bible
Ecclesiastes 8:7-13
Lexham English Bible
No One Knows the Future
7 Surely no one knows what will be,
so who can tell anyone what will happen?
8 Just as no one can control the wind to restrain the wind,
so also no one can control the day of his death.
Just as no one is discharged in time of war,
so wickedness will not deliver the wicked.
The World Marred by Oppression and Injustice
9 I saw all this as I applied my heart to all the deeds done under the sun: sometimes those in authority harm others.[a] 10 Meanwhile, I saw the wicked being honorably buried, but those who came and went from the holy place were forgotten in the city, even though they had done so. This also is vanity!
Although Evil is Not Punished Swiftly, God Does Eventually Punish Sinners
11 Because sentence against an evil deed is not carried out quickly, the heart of humans[b] fills up within them to do evil. 12 Although the sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I also know that it will be good for those who fear God—because they fear his presence.[c] 13 But it will not go well with the wicked, and they will not prolong their days, like the shadow; because there is no fearing God’s presence.[d]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ecclesiastes 8:9 Literally “sometimes one man domineers another man to his harm”
- Ecclesiastes 8:11 Literally “the sons of the man”
- Ecclesiastes 8:12 Literally “from before his face”
- Ecclesiastes 8:13 Literally “from before the face of God”
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
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