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They do not know what the future holds,
    and no one can tell them what will happen.
No one can control the wind
    or stop his own death.
No soldier is released in times of war,
    and evil does not set free those who do evil.

Justice, Rewards, and Punishment

I saw all of this as I considered all that is done here on earth. Sometimes people harm those they control.

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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