Keep the King's Command
1 Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing?
1A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and
2the hardness of his face is changed.
2
I say: Keep the king's command, because of
3God's oath to him.
3
Be not hasty to
4go 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, and
5who 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 way
6for everything, although man's trouble lies heavy on him.
7
For he
7does not know what is to be, for
8who can tell him how it will be?
8
No man has power to
9retain the spirit,
10or power over the day of death. There is no
11discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it.
9
12All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.