Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t be hasty to go out of his presence. Don’t persist in an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him,
- KJV Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.
- NKJV Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him.”
- NASB Do not be in a hurry to leave him. Do not join in an evil matter, for he will do whatever he pleases.”
- NLT Don’t try to avoid doing your duty, and don’t stand with those who plot evil, for the king can do whatever he wants.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Don't rashly abandon your duty before a ruler or stubbornly pursue evil, since the king holds real power. Wisdom counsels patience and prudence in the face of authority.
Overview
Qoheleth advises against hasty or rebellious conduct in the royal court, recognizing that a king can act as he pleases. The counsel is practical realism, not flattery: prudence keeps one from needless harm. It reflects the wider biblical call to live peaceably and discerningly under those in power (Proverbs 24:21-22).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Eccl 10:4If the ruler’s temper flares against you, do not abandon your post, for calmness lays great offenses to rest.
- Acts 5:8–9“Tell me,” said Peter, “is this the price you and your husband got for the land?” “Yes,” she answered, “that is the price.”
- Dan 5:19Because of the greatness that He bestowed on him, the people of every nation and language trembled in fear before him. He killed whom he wished and kept alive whom he wished; he exalted whom he wished and humbled whom he wished.
- Prov 14:29A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.
- Dan 4:35All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”
- Isa 48:4For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.
- Prov 30:31a strutting rooster; a he-goat; and a king with his army around him.
- 1 Kgs 1:50–52But Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, got up and went to take hold of the horns of the altar.
- Prov 16:14–15The wrath of a king is a messenger of death, but a wise man will pacify it.
- Jer 44:16–17“As for the word you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you!
- 1 Kgs 2:21–24So Bathsheba said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah as his wife.”
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Christ at the center
The search that finds everything 'under the sun' to be vapor exposes the emptiness of life without God and drives us to the one who alone gives meaning, the resurrection that makes our labor not in vain.
How Ecclesiastes 8:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.