2 I counsel you to keep the command of the king because of the ^aoath before God by which you swore loyalty to him. 2+@Sam 21:7 3 Do not be in a hurry to ^aget out of his presence. Do not join in a malevolent matter, for the king will do whatever he pleases.

9 All this I have seen while applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has exercised ^apower over others to their detriment.

10 So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out of the holy place but did not thereby escape their doom, and they are praised in spite of their evil and soon ^aforgotten in the city where they did such things. This too is futility (vanity, emptiness) . 11 Because the ^asentence against an evil act is not executed quickly, ^bthe hearts of the sons of men are fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his life seemingly is ^aprolonged in spite of his wickedness, still I know that it will be ^bwell with those who reverently fear God, who fear and worship Him openly realizing His omnipresence and His power. Ps 37:11, 18, 19; Is 3:10, 11; Matt 25:34 13 But it will ^anot be well for the evil man, nor will he lengthen his days like a ^bshadow, because he does not fear God. Matt 25:41

14 There is a meaningless and futile thing which is done on the earth: that is, there are ^arighteous men whose gain is as though they were evil, and ^bevil men whose gain is as though they were righteous. I say that this too is futility (meaningless, vain) . 15 Then I commended pleasure and enjoyment, because ^aa man without God has no better thing under the sun than to eat and to drink and to be merry, for this will stand by him in his toil through the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.

16 When I ^aapplied my mind to know wisdom and to see the activities of mankind that take place upon the earth—how some men seem to ^bsleep neither day nor night— 17 and I saw all the work of God, I concluded that ^aman cannot discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though man may labor in seeking, he will not discover; and more than that, ^bthough a wise man thinks and claims he knows, he will not be able to find it out. Deut 29:29; Rom 11:33