Ecclesiastes 8:6-12 Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV)

6. For every matter, there is a time and an opportunity, as well as many difficulties, for man.

7. For he is ignorant of the past, and he is able to know nothing of the future by means of a messenger.

8. It is not in the power of a man to prohibit the spirit, nor does he have authority over the day of death, nor is he permitted to rest when war breaks out, and neither will impiety save the impious.

9. I have considered all these things, and I have applied my heart to all the works which are being done under the sun. Sometimes one man rules over another to his own harm.

10. I have seen the impious buried. These same, while they were still living, were in the holy place, and they were praised in the city as workers of justice. But this, too, is emptiness.

11. For the sons of men perpetrate evils without any fear, because judgment is not pronounced quickly against the evil.

12. But although a sinner may do evil of himself one hundred times, and by patience still endure, I realize that it will be well with those who fear God, who revere his face.

Ecclesiastes 8