Ecclesiastes 8:1-9

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:[a] Keep the king's command, because of 3God's oath to him.[b]
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[c] 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.

Cross References 12

  • 1. Proverbs 4:8, 9; [Acts 6:15]
  • 2. Proverbs 21:29; [Deuteronomy 28:50]
  • 3. Exodus 22:11; 2 Samuel 21:7; 1 Kings 2:43; [2 Chronicles 36:13; Ezekiel 17:18]
  • 4. [Ecclesiastes 10:4]
  • 5. Daniel 4:35; See Job 9:12
  • 6. Ecclesiastes 3:1, 17
  • 7. [Proverbs 24:22]
  • 8. Ecclesiastes 3:22; Ecclesiastes 6:12; Ecclesiastes 9:12; Ecclesiastes 10:14
  • 9. [Job 14:5]
  • 10. [Ecclesiastes 3:19; Ecclesiastes 9:11]
  • 11. See Deuteronomy 20:5-8
  • 12. [Ecclesiastes 1:13]

Footnotes 3

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.