Proverbs 6:6-19

6:6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;

observe its ways and be wise!

6:7 It has no commander,

overseer, or ruler,

6:8 yet it prepares its food in the summer;

it gathers at the harvest what it will eat.

6:9 How long, you sluggard, will you lie there?

When will you rise from your sleep?

6:10 A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to relax,

6:11 and your poverty will come like a robber,

and your need like an armed man.

6:12 A worthless and wicked person

walks around saying perverse things;

6:13 he winks with his eyes,

signals with his feet,

and points with his fingers;

6:14 he plots evil with perverse thoughts in his heart,

he spreads contention at all times.

6:15 Therefore, his disaster will come suddenly;

in an instant he will be broken, and there will be no remedy.

6:16 There are six things that the Lord hates,

even seven things that are an abomination to him:

6:17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

and hands that shed innocent blood,

6:18 a heart that devises wicked plans,

feet that are swift to run to evil,

6:19 a false witness who pours out lies,

and a person who spreads discord among family members.

Job 4:8

4:8 Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity

and those who sow trouble reap the same.

Job 5:27

5:27 Look, we have investigated this, so it is true.

Hear it, and apply it for your own good.”

Job 15:17

15:17 “I will explain to you;

listen to me,

and what I have seen, I will declare,

Psalms 37:25

37:25 I was once young, now I am old.

I have never seen a godly man abandoned,

or his children forced to search for food.

Psalms 107:42

107:42 When the godly see this, they rejoice,

and every sinner shuts his mouth.

Ecclesiastes 4:1-8

Evil Oppression on Earth

4:1 So I again considered all the oppression that continually occurs on earth.

This is what I saw:

The oppressed were in tears, but no one was comforting them;

no one delivers them from the power of their oppressors.

4:2 So I considered those who are dead and gone

more fortunate than those who are still alive.

4:3 But better than both is the one who has not been born

and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth.

Labor Motivated by Envy

4:4 Then I considered all the skillful work that is done:

Surely it is nothing more than competition between one person and another.

This also is profitless – like chasing the wind.

4:5 The fool folds his hands and does no work,

so he has nothing to eat but his own flesh.

4:6 Better is one handful with some rest

than two hands full of toil and chasing the wind.

Labor Motivated by Greed

4:7 So I again considered another futile thing on earth:

4:8 A man who is all alone with no companion,

he has no children nor siblings;

yet there is no end to all his toil,

and he is never satisfied with riches.

He laments, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?”

This also is futile and a burdensome task!

Ecclesiastes 7:15

Exceptions to the Law of Retribution

7:15 During the days of my fleeting life I have seen both of these things:

Sometimes a righteous person dies prematurely in spite of his righteousness,

and sometimes a wicked person lives long in spite of his evil deeds.

Ecclesiastes 8:9-11

8:9 While applying my mind to everything that happens in this world, I have seen all this:

Sometimes one person dominates other people to their harm.

Contradictions to the Law of Retribution

8:10 Not only that, but I have seen the wicked approaching and entering the temple,

and as they left the holy temple, they

boasted in the city that they had done so.

This also is an enigma.

8:11 When a sentence is not executed at once against a crime,

the human heart is encouraged to do evil.