1 Or, matter 2 Or, evil of his face is changed. I counsel thee, Keep 2 the king's command, and that in regard of the oath of God. Be not hasty to go out of his 3 presence; persist not in an evil thing: for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him. Because the 4 king's word hath power; and who may say unto him, What doest thou? Whoso keepeth the 5 commandment shall know no evil thing; and a wise man's heart discerneth time and judgement for to every 'purpose there is a time 6 and judgement; because the 'misery of man is great upon him: for he knoweth not that 7 which shall be; for who can tell him how it shall be? There is no man that hath power 8 over the 'spirit to retain the 'spirit; neither hath he power over the day of death; and there is no discharge 'in that war: neither shall wickedness deliver him that is given to it. All 9 this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: "there time one man is a time wherein one man hath power over another to his hurt. Or, for even when it cometh to pass, who shall declare it unto him? 4 Or, wind 5 Or, in battle 6 Or, what had &c. 7 Or, to his own hurt 8 Or, who had come and gone away from the holy place, and they were for gotten in the city where they had so done 9 Or, emboldened 7 And withal I saw the wicked buried, and 10 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. Because sentence against an evil work is not 11 executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, 12 and prolong his days, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: but it shall not be well with 13 the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God. There is a vanity which is done 14 upon the earth; that there be righteous men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work 16 I 1 this should accompany him nor by night do with their eyes of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous I said that this also is vanity. 15 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: 'for that shall abide 1Or, and that with him in his labour all the days of his life which God hath given him under the sun. When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the 'business that is done upon the 2 Or, travail earth (for also there is that neither day nor Or, how that 17 night seeth sleep with his eyes :) then I beheld neither by day all the work of God, that man cannot find out men see sleep the work that is done under the sun: because however much a man labour 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 9 able to find it. For all this I laid to my heart, even to explore all this; that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: whether it be love or hatred, man knoweth it 2 not; all is before them. All things come alike to all there is one 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 he that sweareth, as he that feareth 3 an oath. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they 4 live, and after that they go to the dead. to him that is joined with all the living there is hope for a living dog is better than a 5 dead lion. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the 6 memory of them is forgotten. As well their For Some ancient and to the evil; to the versions read, clean &c. 5 Another reading is, For who is exempted? or, who can che With all &c. choose? With 1 Or, Enjoy love, as their hatred and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun. Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and 7 drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God hath already accepted thy works. Let thy gar- 8 ments be always white; and let not thy head lack ointment. 'Live joyfully with the wife 9 (Heb. See) life whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in life, and in thy labour wherein thou labourest under the sun. Whatsoever thy hand 10 Or, attaineth findeth to do, do it with thy might; for to do by thy there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, strength, that do nor wisdom, in 'the grave, whither thou goest. 3 Heb. Sheol. I returned, and saw under the sun, that the 11 race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. For man also knoweth not his 12 time as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them. I have also seen wisdom under the sun on 13 this wise, and it seemed great unto me: there 14 was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: now 15 there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man. Then said 16 I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. 17 2 3 If Or, heard in than &c. quiet are better Or, to stink and putrefy 3 Or, him that is valued for Heb. heart. Or, of wisdom 4 5 6 Or, gentleness sins undone leaveth great The words of the wise 'spoken in quiet are1 heard more than the cry of him that ruleth 18 among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good. 101 Dead flies cause the ointment of the perfumer 2to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly outweigh wisdom and honour. A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's 3 heart at his left. Yea also, when the fool walketh by the way, his 'understanding faileth him, 4 and he saith to every one that he is a fool. the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding allayeth great of5 fences. There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as it were an error which pro6 ceedeth from the ruler: folly is set in great 7 'dignity, and the rich sit in low place. I have 'Heb. heights. seen servants upon horses, and princes walking 8 as servants upon the earth. He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh through 9 a fence, a serpent shall bite him. Whoso 'hew- Or, eth out stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood is endangered thereby. 10 If the iron be blunt, and one do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength : II but wisdom is profitable to direct. If the serpent bite before it be charmed, then is there 12 no advantage in "the charmer. The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of 13 a fool will swallow up himself. The beginning slanderer is no of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the 10 Heb. 14 end of his talk is mischievous madness. A fool also multiplieth words: yet man knoweth not what shall be; and that which shall be after 15 him, who can tell him? The labour of fools wearieth every one of them, for he knoweth his mouth. 16 not how to go to the city. Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a "child, and thy princes 13 Or, servant 10 8 moveth stones 9 Or, Surely the serpent will bite where there is no and the enchantment, better without enchantment. 11 Heb. the master of the tongue. 12 Heb. eat in the morning! Happy art thou, O land, 17 when thy king is 'the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness! By slothfulness the 'roof 18 sinketh in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaketh. A feast is made for laughter, 19 and wine maketh glad the life: and money answereth all things. Curse not the king, no, not 20 in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter. Cast thy bread 'upon the waters: for thou 1 11 shalt find it after many days. Give a portion 2 to seven, yea, even unto eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. If the 3 clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if a tree fall toward the south, or 'toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there shall it be. He that 4 observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. As thou 5 knowest not what is the way of the 'wind, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so thou knowest not the work of God who doeth all. In the morning 6 sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand for thou knowest not which shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. Truly the light is 7 sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun. Yea, if a man live many years, 8 let him rejoice in them all; 'but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity. Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let 9 thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in |
