Ecclesiastes 8:9

All this have I seen, and have given my heart to all the work which is done under the sun: there is a time when man has power over man for his destruction.

Bible in Basic English

In The King James Version

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.

In Context

8No man has authority over the wind, to keep the wind; or is ruler over the day of his death. In war no man's time is free, and evil will not keep the sinner safe.

10And then I saw evil men put to rest, taken even from the holy place; and they went about and were praised in the town because of what they had done. This again is to no purpose.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 8

Cross References

Exodus 14:28And the waters came back, covering the war-carriages and the horsemen and all the army of Pharaoh which went after them into the middle of the sea; not one of them was to be seen.

2 Kings 14:10It is true that you have overcome Edom and your heart is uplifted; let that glory be enough for you, and keep in your country; why do you make causes of trouble, putting yourself, and Judah with you, in danger of downfall?

Ecclesiastes 1:14I have seen all the works which are done under the sun; all is to no purpose, and desire for wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:7Then I came back, and I saw an example of what is to no purpose under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 5:8\5:9\It is good generally for a country where the land is worked to have a king.

Ecclesiastes 7:25I gave my mind to knowledge and to searching for wisdom and the reason of things, and to the discovery that sin is foolish, and that to be foolish is to be without one's senses.

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 8:7-9

The Certainty of Death. 6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him. 7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be? 8 There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it. Solomon had said ( v. 5 ) that a wise man's heart discerns time and judgment, that is, a man's… Read the whole commentary →

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