Ecclesiastes 8 :: Amplified Bible (AMP)

I counsel you to keep the command of the king because of the oath before God [by which you swore loyalty to him].

For the word of a king is authoritative and powerful,

And who will say to him, “What are you doing?”

Whoever keeps and observes a royal command will experience neither trouble nor misery;

For a wise heart will know the [fn]proper time and [appropriate] procedure.

For there is a [fn]proper time and [appropriate] procedure for every delight,

Though mankind’s misery and trouble lies heavily upon him [who rebels against the king].

For no one knows what will happen;

So who can tell him how and when it will happen?

There is no man who has power and authority over the wind to restrain the wind,

Nor does he have authority over the day of death;

There is no discharge [from service] during time of war,

And evil will not rescue those who [actively seek to] practice it.

All this I have seen while applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has exercised power over others to their detriment.

So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out of the holy place [but did not thereby escape their doom], and they are [praised in spite of their evil and] soon forgotten in the city where they did such things. This too is futility (vanity, emptiness).

There is a meaningless and futile thing which is done on the earth: that is, there are righteous men whose gain is as though they were evil, and evil men whose gain is as though they were righteous. I say that this too is futility (meaningless, vain).

When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to see the activities [of mankind] that take place upon the earth—how some men seem to sleep neither day nor night—