When a sentence against an evil crime is not executed quickly, it entices the hearts of human beings to do evil. Even though a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives a long time, yet I know that it will be better for those who respect God, for those who stand before him and show him respect. But it will not go well for a wicked man; his life will not be prolonged. His days are like a fleeting shadow because he does not honor God. There is something else meaningless that is done on the earth: there are righteous people who get what the wicked deserve, and there are wicked people who get what the righteous deserve. I said this too is meaningless. So I recommend enjoyment, because a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat and drink and to be merry. It is happiness that will accompany him in his labor for all the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to understand the work that is done on the earth, work often done without sleep for the eyes at night or in the day, then I considered all of God's deeds, and that man cannot understand the work that is done under the sun. No matter how much a man labors to find the answers, he will not find them. Even though a wise man might believe he knows, he really does not.
