Fear God

The Teacher sees wicked people honored in burial and praised in the very city where they did evil, which itself is another form of futility. Because judgment is not carried out quickly, human hearts grow bolder in sin, yet the Teacher still affirms that it will go well with those who fear God, while the wicked will not finally flourish because they do not stand in reverent awe before him.

T¹⁰hen too, I saw the burial of the wicked who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they had done so. This too is futile. ¹¹When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil. ¹²Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence. ¹³Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.