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Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
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As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so 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.
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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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Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him.
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Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
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So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.
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When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night—
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This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.
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For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten.
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Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.
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Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.
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There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it.
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If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success.
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and fools multiply words. No one knows what is coming— who can tell someone else what will happen after them?
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If clouds are full of water, they pour rain on the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
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Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
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Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.
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However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all. But let them remember the days of darkness, for there will be many. Everything to come is meaningless.
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You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
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Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”—
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when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint;
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when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets.
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The Conclusion of the Matter
Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs.
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For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.
