Bible Study: Ecclesiastes 7:23—8:9 — November 3, 2024
23All this I have proved by wisdom.
I said, “I will be wise”;
But it was far from me.
24As for that which is far off and exceedingly deep,
Who can find it out?
25I applied my heart to know,
To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things,
To know the wickedness of folly,
Even of foolishness and madness.
26And I find more bitter than death
The woman whose heart is snares and nets,
Whose hands are fetters.
He who pleases God shall escape from her,
But the sinner shall be trapped by her.
27“Here is what I have found,” says the Preacher,
“Adding one thing to the other to find out the reason,
28Which my soul still seeks but I cannot find:
One man among a thousand I have found,
But a woman among all these I have not found.
29Truly, this only I have found:
That God made man upright,
But they have sought out many schemes.”
8 Who is like a wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing?
A man’s wisdom makes his face shine,
And the sternness of his face is changed.
2 I say, “Keep the king’s commandment for the sake of your oath to God. 3 Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him.”
4Where the word of a king is, there is power;
And who may say to him, “What are you doing?”
5He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful;
And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment,
6Because for every matter there is a time and judgment,
Though the misery of man increases greatly.
7For he does not know what will happen;
So who can tell him when it will occur?
8No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit,
And no one has power in the day of death.
There is no release from that war,
And wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it.
9 All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ec 7:23–8:9.
