If no one (A)knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen? (B)No one has authority over the wind to restrain the wind, nor authority over the day of death; and there is no military discharge in the time of war, and (C)evil will not save [a]those who practice it. All this I have seen, and have applied my [b]mind to every deed that has been done under the sun at a time when one person has exercised (D)authority over another person to his detriment.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 8:8 Lit its possessors
  2. Ecclesiastes 8:9 Lit heart

Since no one knows the future,
    who can tell someone else what is to come?
As no one has power over the wind to contain it,
    so[a] no one has power over the time of their death.
As no one is discharged in time of war,
    so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own[b] hurt.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 8:8 Or over the human spirit to retain it, / and so
  2. Ecclesiastes 8:9 Or to their