Ecclesiastes 8:1-9

¹Who is a wise man? Who knows what the events in life mean? Wisdom in a man causes his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.

²I advise you to obey the king's command because of God's oath to protect him.

³Do not hurry out of his presence, and do not stand in support of something wrong, for the king does whatever he desires.

⁴The king's word rules, so who will say to him, “What are you doing?”

⁵Whoever keeps the king's commands avoids harm. A wise man's heart recognizes the proper course and time of action.

⁶For every matter there is a correct response and a time to respond, because the troubles of man are great.

⁷No one knows what is coming next. Who can tell him what is coming?

⁸No one is ruler over his breath so as to stop the breath, and no one has power over the day of his death. No one is discharged from the army during a battle, and wickedness will not rescue those who are its slaves.

⁹I have realized all this; I have applied my heart to every kind of work that is done under the sun. There is a time when a person oppresses another person to that person's hurt.