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Ecclesiastes 8:1-2
New Catholic Bible
Ecclesiastes 8:1-2
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 8
The Smile of a Wise Man[a]
1 Who is like the wise man?
Who else knows how to interpret things?
A man’s wisdom lights up his face,
softening the hardness of his countenance.
When Man Dominates Man.[b] 2 Obey the command of the king because of your sacred oath,
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ecclesiastes 8:1 With a bit of meditation and a serene judgment, even the distresses of life mentioned in Eccl 7:1-7 become less dramatic.
- Ecclesiastes 8:2 The kingship is recognized as being of divine institution (see 2 Sam 8; Ps 89); it is part of this sacred world to which human beings must be submissive. In any case, it is better to keep account of the pretense of power that holds humans at its mercy and before which they remain without recourse. But no matter how great it is, power does not have the last word in the events of the world.
