"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…" — Ecclesiastes 8:9

Ecclesiastes 8:9 · KJV

“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.”

— Ecclesiastes 8:9

Verse 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. {discharge: or, casting off weapons}

Verse 10

And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this {is} also vanity.

Ecclesiastes 8 — Context

For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be? {when...: or, how it shall be?}

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.

And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this {is} also vanity.

Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

Cross References

Ecclesiastes 5:8

If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for {he that is} higher than the highest regardeth; and {there be} higher than they. {at the... Heb. at the will, or, purpose}

Ecclesiastes 4:7-8

Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 5:13

There is a sore evil {which} I have seen under the sun, {namely}, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.

2 Kings 14:10-12

Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory {of this}, and tarry at home: for why shouldest thou meddle to {thy} hurt, that thou shouldest fall, {even} thou, and Judah with thee? {at home: Heb. at thy house}

Deuteronomy 2:30

But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as {appeareth} this day.

Ecclesiastes 1:14

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all {is} vanity and vexation of spirit.

Ecclesiastes 3:10

I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

Exodus 14:5-9

And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?