Who is a wise man? Who knows what the events in life mean? Wisdom in a man causes his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed. I advise you to obey the king's command because of God's oath to protect him. Do not hurry out of his presence, and do not stand in support of something wrong, for the king does whatever he desires. The king's word rules, so who will say to him, "What are you doing?" Whoever keeps the king's commands avoids harm. A wise man's heart recognizes the proper course and time of action. For every matter there is a correct response and a time to respond, because the troubles of man are great. No one knows what is coming next. Who can tell him what is coming? No one has power over the wind to restrain it, and so, no one has power over the day of his death. No one is discharged from the army during a battle, and wickedness will not rescue those who are its slaves. I have realized all this; I have applied my heart to every kind of work that is done under the sun. There is a time when a person exercises authority over another person to that person's hurt. So I saw the wicked buried publicly. They were taken from the holy area and buried and were praised by people in the city where they had done their wicked deeds. This also is meaningless.
