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[a] hurt. 10 Then too, I saw the wicked buried(A)—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise[b] in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.

11 When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 8:9 Or to their
  2. Ecclesiastes 8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint (Aquila); most Hebrew manuscripts and are forgotten

All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.

10 And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.

11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

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