8 Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? aa man’s wisdom bmaketh his face to shine, and †the boldness of his face shall be changed. 2 I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment, and that cin regard of dthe oath of God. 3 eBe not hasty fto go out of his sight: gstand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him. 4 Where the word of a king is, there is hpower: and iwho may say unto him, What doest thou? 5 Whoso keepeth the commandment †shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and jjudgment.

6 Because kto every purpose there is time and jjudgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him. 7 For lhe knoweth not that which shall be: for mwho can tell him ||when it shall be? 8 There is no man that hath npower over the spirit oto retain the spirit; neither hath he hpower in the day of death: and there is no ||pdischarge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver qthose that are given to it. 9 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt. 10 And rso I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from sthe place of the holy, and tthey were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.

11 uBecause sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men xis fully set in them to do evil. 12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and yhis zadays be prolonged, yet surely I know that ait shall be well bwith them that fear God, which fear before him: 13 But it bcshall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are das a shadow; because he feareth not before God.

14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, eunto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, fto whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity. 15 Then I commended mirth, because ga man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall habide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.

16 When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the ibusiness that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:) 17 Then I beheld all the work of God, that ka man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, lyet shall he not be able to find it.

9 For all this †I considered in my heart even to adeclare all this, bthat the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: cno man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them. 2 dAll things come alike to all: there is eone event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and fhe that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. 3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is eone event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and gmadness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they shall die: but hthe dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for ithe memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is know perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

7 Go thy way, leat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; mfor God know accepteth thy works. 8 Let nthy garments be always white; and olet thy head lack no ointment. 9 †Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, pwhich he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: qfor that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun. 10 Whatsoever rthy hand findeth to do, sdo it with thy might; for there is no work, nor tdevice, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

11 I ureturned, and saw under the sun, that xthe race is not to the swift, nor ythe battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet zfavour to men of skill; but time and achance bhappeneth to them all. 12 For cman also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil dnet, and as ethe birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men fsnared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me: 14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and gbesieged it, and built great hbulwarks against it: 15 Now there was found in it a ipoor wise man, and he kby his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same ipoor man. 16 Then said I, lWisdom is better than strength: nevertheless mthe ipoor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. 17 The words of wise men are heard in nquiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. 18 lWisdom is better than weapons of war: but oone sinner destroyeth much good.

10 †Dead flies cause the ointment of the aapothecary to bsend forth a stinking savour: so doth a little cfolly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.

2 A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left. 3 Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, †his wisdom faileth him, and dhe saith to every one that he is a fool.

4 If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, eleave not thy place; for fyielding gpacifieth great offences.

5 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an herror which proceedeth †from the iruler: 6 kFolly is set †in great dignity, and the rich sit in llow place. 7 mI have seen servants nupon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.

8 oHe that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso pbreaketh an hedge, qa serpent shall bite him. 9 Whoso rremoveth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that scleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby.

10 If the iron tbe blunt, and he do not uwhet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is xprofitable to ydirect.

11 Surely the serpent will bite without zenchantment; and †a babbler is no xbetter. 12 aThe words of a wise man’s mouth are †gracious; but bthe lips of a fool will swallow up himself. 13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is cfoolishness: and the end of †his talk is mischievous dmadness. 14 eA fool also †is full of words: fa man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, gwho can tell him? 15 The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.

16 hWoe to thee, O land, when ithy king is ja child, and thy princes keat in the morning! 17 Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes leat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

18 By much slothfulness the building mdecayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house ndroppeth through.

19 A feast is made for laughter, and owine †maketh merry: but pmoney answereth all things.

20 qCurse not the king, no not in thy ||thought; and curse not the rich rin thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and sthat which hath wings shall tell the matter.