1
Who is like the wise?
And who knows the interpretation of a thing?
zProv. 4:8, 9; [Acts 6:15] A man's wisdom makes his face shine,
andaProv. 21:29; [Deut. 28:50] the hardness of his face is changed.
2 I say: Keep the king's command, because ofbEx. 22:11; 2 Sam. 21:7; 1 Kgs. 2:43; [2 Chr. 36:13; Ezek. 17:18] God's oath to him.2Or because of your oath to God 3 Be not hasty toc[ch. 10:4] go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. 4 For the word of the king is supreme, anddDan. 4:35; See Job 9:12 who may say to him, “What are you doing? ” 5 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. 6 For there is a time and a wayech. 3:1, 17 for everything, although man's trouble1Or evil lies heavy on him. 7 For hef[Prov. 24:22] does not know what is to be, forgch. 3:22; 6:12; 9:12; 10:14 who can tell him how it will be? 8 No man has power toh[Job 14:5] retain the spirit,i[ch. 3:19; 9:11] or power over the day of death. There is nojSee Deut. 20:5-8 discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. 9 k[ch. 1:13] All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.
10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out ofl[Neh. 11:1; Matt. 24:15] the holy place and werem[ch. 9:5; Prov. 10:7] praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity. 11 Becausen[Ps. 10:6; 50:21; Isa. 26:10; Rom. 2:4, 5; 2 Pet. 3:9] the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily,o[Esth. 7:5; Acts 5:3] the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times andpch. 7:15; Isa. 65:20 prolongs his life, yet I know thatq[Deut. 12:25; Isa. 3:10] it will be well withr[Ps. 37:11, 18, 19; Prov. 1:33; Matt. 25:34] those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it willsIsa. 3:11 not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days liketch. 6:12; See Job 14:2 a shadow, because he does not fear before God.
14 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous peopleuch. 7:15; [Ps. 73:3]; See ch. 2:14 to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked peoplev[Job 21:7; Ps. 17:9, 10; 73:12; Jer. 12:1] to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15 And I commend joy, for manwSee ch. 2:24 has no good thing under the sun but tox1 Kgs. 4:20 eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to seeych. 1:13; 3:10 the business that is done on earth, how neitherz[Ps. 127:2] day nor night do one's eyes see sleep, 17 then I saw all the work of God, thata[Prov. 25:2]; See ch. 3:11 man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know,b[Ps. 73:16] he cannot find it out.