rsv Ecclesiastes:8:2-17 SEEK
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Keep the king '
s command ,
and because of your sacred oath be not dismayed ;
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go from his presence ,
do not delay when the matter is unpleasant ,
for he does whatever he pleases .
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For the word of the king is supreme ,
and who may say to him , "
What are you doing ?"
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He who obeys a command will meet no harm ,
and the mind of a wise man will know the time and way .
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For every matter has its time and way ,
although man '
s trouble lies heavy upon him .
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For he does not know what is to be ,
for who can tell him how it will be ?
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No man has power to retain the spirit ,
or authority over the day of death ;
there is no discharge from war ,
nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it .
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All this I observed while applying my mind to all that is done under the sun ,
while man lords it over man to his hurt .
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Then I saw the wicked buried ;
they used to go in and out of the holy place ,
and were praised in the city where they had done such things .
This also is vanity .
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Because sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily ,
the heart of the sons of men is fully set to do evil .
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Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life ,
yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God ,
because they fear before him ;
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but it will not be well with the wicked ,
neither will he prolong his days like a shadow ,
because he does not fear before God .
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There is a vanity which takes place on earth ,
that there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked ,
and there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous .
I said that this also is vanity .
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And I commend enjoyment ,
for man has no good thing under the sun but to eat and drink ,
and enjoy himself ,
for this will go with him in his toil through the days of life which God gives him under the sun .
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When I applied my mind to know wisdom ,
and to see the business that is done on earth ,
how neither day nor night one '
s eyes see sleep ;
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then I saw all the work of God ,
that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun .
However much man may toil in seeking ,
he will not find it out ;
even though a wise man claims to know ,
he cannot find it out .