1 ¶ Who is like a wise man? and who knows the explanation of a matter? a man’s wisdom causes his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.

2 I advise you to do what the king orders, but because of his oath to God you need not be terrified.

3 When you leave his presence: do not persist in anything evil; for he does whatever he pleases.

4 For the king’s word is authoritative: who can ask him, What are you doing?

5 Whoever does what he orders will have no trouble: and a wise man’s mind will know both when and what to do.

6 ¶ Because for every activity there is a right time and right way. A man worries a lot over his troubles,

7 Because he does not know what will happen: for who can tell him how things will turn out?

8 There is no man who has power over the spirit to retain the breath of life; nor does he have power over the day of his death: there is no way out during battle; and wickedness will not let those who practice it to escape.

9 ¶ I saw all this as I considered all the work that is done under the sun: there is a time when one man rules over another to his own hurt.

10 Then I saw how the wicked approach, who came and went from the holy place, and were praised in the city where they had done such things: this is also vanity.

11 Because the sentence against a crime is not executed quickly, the heart of the sons of men is fully set to do evil.

12 Even though a sinner does wrong one hundred times, and his life is prolonged, yet know that those who fear God will prosper, because they fear him:

13 But it will not be well with the wicked, nor will he prolong his days, which are like a shadow; because he does not fear God.

14 ¶ There is something that goes on upon the earth that makes no sense; for there are righteous men, who suffer for what the wicked do; and there are wicked men, who fare as if they were righteous: I say that this too is vanity.

15 So I praise mirth, for there is nothing better for a man under the sun, than to eat, drink, and to be merry: for this will go with him in his toil every day God allows him to live under the sun.

16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to observe all the activity that takes place on the earth: how that some men do not rest day or night:

17 I realized that a man cannot find out the meaning of all the work God requires under the sun: because even though a man works hard to discover it, he will not find it; yea even though a wise man claims to know it, he is not able to discover its meaning.