1Who is as the wise man ? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing ? A man ’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed . 2I counsel thee , Keep the king ’s command , and that in regard of the oath of God. 3Be not hasty to go out of his presence ; persist not in an evil thing : for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him . 4For the king ’s word hath power ; and who may say unto him , What doest thou ? 5Whoso keepeth the commandment shall know no evil thing ; and a wise man ’s heart discerneth time and judgment :
The Uncertainty of Life
6for to every purpose there is a time and judgment ; because the misery of man is great upon him : 7for he knoweth not that which shall be ; for who can tell him how it shall be ? 8There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit ; neither hath he power over the day of death ; and there is no discharge in war : neither shall wickedness deliver him that is given to it . 9All this have I seen , and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun : there is a time wherein one man hath power over another to his hurt . 10So I saw the wicked buried , and they came to the grave ; and they that had done right went away from the holy place , and were forgotten in the city : this also is vanity .
The Fate of the Wicked and the Righteous
11Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily , therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil . 12Though a sinner do evil a hundred times , and prolong his days , yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, that fear before him : 13but it shall not be well with the wicked , neither shall he prolong his days , which are as a shadow ; because he feareth not before God . 14There is a vanity which is done upon the earth, that there are righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked ; again , there are wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous : I said that this also is vanity .
The Joy of Life Despite Its Futility
15Then I commended mirth , because a man hath no better thing under the sun , than to eat, and to drink , and to be joyful : for that shall abide with him in his labor all the days of his life which God hath given him under the sun . 16When I applied my heart to know wisdom , and to see the business that is done upon the earth ( for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes ), 17then I beheld all the work of God , that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun : because however much a man labor to seek it out , yet he shall not find it ; yea moreover , though a wise man think to know it , yet shall he not be able to find it .