¶ The kinges commaundement ought to be obeyed. Gladnes is one of the cheife thinges vnder the son.
CAPI. VIII.
WYsdome maketh a mannes face to thyne, [ A] * 1.1 but malyce putteth out of fauour. Kepe the kynges commaundement (I warne the) and the othe ye thou hast made vnto God. Be not hastye to go out of his sighte, & se thou continue in no euill thinge: for what so euer it pleaseth him, that dothe he. Lyke as when a kynge gyueth a charge, his commaunde∣ment is myghtye: Euen so who may saye vn∣to hym: what doest thou? Who so kepeth the commaundement, shall fele no harme: but a wyse mannes herte discerueth tyme and maner. For euerye thynge wyll haue oportu∣nitie and iudgement, and this is the thynge that maketh men full of carefulnesse and so∣rowe. And why? a man knoweth not what is for to come, for who wyll tell hym? Ney∣ther [ B] is there anye man that hathe power ouer the spirite, to kepe styll the spirite, ne to haue anye power in the tyme of deathe: it is not he also that can make an ende of the batayle, nei∣ther may vngodlynesse deliuer him that med∣leth withall.
All these thynges haue I considered, and ap∣plied my minde vnto euery worke that is vnder the sunne: how one man hathe lordshyp vpon an other to his own harme. For I haue oft sene the vngodly brought to their graues, & fallen downe from the hye and gloryous place: in so moch yt they were forgotten in the city, where they were ha•• in so hye and great reputacion. This is also a vayne thing. Bicause now that euil workes are not hastely punisshed, the hert of man gyueth him self ouer vnto wickednes. But thoughe an euyll person offende an hun∣dred tymes, and haue a longe lyfe: yet am I [ C] sure that it shall go well with them that feare God, bycause they haue him before their eyes. Agayne, as for the vngodly, it shall not be wel with him, neither shal he prolonge his dayes: but euen as a shadow, so shall he be that fea∣reth not God.
Yet is there a vanitie vpon earthe: There be iuste men, vnto whome it happeneth, as thoughe they hadde the workes of the vngod∣ly: Agayne, there be vngodly, with whome it goeth as thoughe they had the workes of the ryghteous. This me thyncke also a vayne thynge. Therfore I commende gladnesse, by∣cause a man hathe no better thynge vnder the sunne, then to eate and dryncke, and to be mery: for that shall he haue of his laboure all the dayes of his lyfe, whiche God gyueth him vnder the sunne. When I applyed my mynde to learne wysdome, and to knowe the tra∣uayle [ D] that is in the worlde (and that of suche