Ecclesiastes 9:1

For, or therefore, as the LXX. render it, all this I considered in my heart All that I have said concerning the methods of divine providence, toward good and bad men; to declare all this To make this evident, first to myself, and then to others; that the righteous Whom he mentions, not exclusively, as if wicked men were not also in God's hand, for the next clause relates both to the good and bad; but eminently, because, by the course of God's providence toward them, they might seem to be quite neglected by God; and their works are in the hand of God All their actions and employments; all events which befall them are governed by his providence, and therefore, although we cannot fully understand the reasons of all, yet we may be assured they are done righteously. No man knoweth either love or hatred No man can judge by their present outward condition, whether God loves or hates them; for whom he loves he chastens, and permits those whom he hates to prosper in the world.