Ecclesiastes 8
1 Who is as the wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
[I will tell you about] those who are truly wise [RHQ] with the result that they can explain why everything happens. Being wise enables people to be happy [MTY] and enables them to smile.
2 I say, Keep the king's command, and that because of the oath of God.
You solemnly promised God that you would obey what the king commands, so do that.
3 Be not hasty to go out of his presence. Persist not in an evil matter, for he does whatever pleases him.
Do not quickly disobey the king. And do not join those who want to rebel against him, because the king will do what he wants to do.
4 For the king's word has power, and who may say to him, What are thou doing?
We need to obey what the king says more than we need to obey what anyone else says; no one can say to the king, “(Why are you doing that?/You should not be doing that.) [RHQ]”
5 He who keeps a commandment shall know no evil thing. And a wise man's heart discerns the time and decision.
If you obey what the king commands, he will not harm you. [So] be wise, and know the correct/right time to do things and the right way to do them.
6 For to every purpose there is a time and decision, although the distress of man is great upon him.
Although people experience many troubles/difficulties, there is a right/correct time to do things, and there is a right/correct way [to do them].
7 For he knows not that which shall be, for who can tell him how it shall be?
No one knows what will happen in the future, so there is no one [RHQ] who can tell us what is going to happen.
8 There is no man who has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, nor has he power over the day of death. And there is no discharge in war. Neither shall wickedness deliver him who is given to it.
We cannot control the wind, and we cannot control when we will die. Soldiers are not permitted to go home during a battle, and evil people will not be saved by [doing what is] evil.
9 All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has power over another to his hurt.
I thought about all those things, and I thought about all [HYP] the other things that happen on this earth. I saw that [sometimes] people cause those whom they control to suffer.
10 So I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were praised in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity.
I also saw that [sometimes] after evil [people] die, they are highly honored at their funerals by the people in the cities where they had done [evil] deeds. It seemed to be difficult to understand why that happens.
11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
If evil people are not immediately punished, it causes [other] people [SYN] to [also] want to do evil things.
12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and prolongs his days, yet surely I know that it shall be well with those who fear God, who fear before him.
But even if sinful people commit 100 crimes, and [even if they] live for a long time, I know that things will go better for those who greatly respect and revere God.
13 But it shall not be well with a wicked man, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he did not fear before God.
[I also know] that things will not go well go for those who are evil, because they do not revere God. Shadows [do not last a long time]. Similarly [SIM], evil people will not live a long time.
14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth, that there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked, again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.
Another thing that [sometimes] happens on this earth is that bad things happen to righteous people, and good things happen to evil people. It is difficult to understand why that happens.
15 Then I commended joy, because a man has no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be cheerful. For that shall abide with him in his labor all the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.
[So] I decided that I would recommend that people be happy while they are alive, because the best thing that people can do here on this earth is to eat and drink and be happy. Enjoying doing those things will help people while they do their work, all the time that God has given to them to remain alive here on the earth.
16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth (for also there is he who sees sleep with his eyes neither day nor night),
I thought about being wise and about people who work very hard, working day and night and not taking time to sleep.
17 then I beheld all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. Because however much a man labors to seek it out, yet he shall not find it. Yea moreover, though a wise man thinks to know it, yet he shall not be able to find it.
Then I thought about everything [HYP] that God has done, and I realized that no one can understand everything that happens here on this earth. Truly, people are not able to fully understand everything [that God understands], even if they try hard to do that. Even if wise people claim that they understand it all, they cannot.
