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.
Sapientia hominis lucet in vultu ejus, et potentissimus faciem illius commutabit.
2 I say, Keep the king's command, and that because of the oath of God.
Ego os regis observo, et præcepta juramenti Dei.
3 Be not hasty to go out of his presence. Persist not in an evil matter, for he does whatever pleases him.
Ne festines recedere a facie ejus, neque permaneas in opere malo: quia omne quod voluerit faciet.
4 For the king's word has power, and who may say to him, What are thou doing?
Et sermo illius potestate plenus est, nec dicere ei quisquam potest: Quare ita facis?
5 He who keeps a commandment shall know no evil thing. And a wise man's heart discerns the time and decision.
Qui custodit præceptum non experietur quidquam mali. Tempus et responsionem cor sapientis intelligit.
6 For to every purpose there is a time and decision, although the distress of man is great upon him.
Omni negotio tempus est, et opportunitas: et multa hominis afflictio,
7 For he knows not that which shall be, for who can tell him how it shall be?
quia ignorat præterita, et futura nullo scire potest nuntio.
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.
Non est in hominis potestate prohibere spiritum, nec habet potestatem in die mortis: nec sinitur quiescere ingruente bello, neque salvabit impietas impium.
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.
Omnia hæc consideravi, et dedi cor meum in cunctis operibus quæ fiunt sub sole. Interdum dominatur homo homini in malum suum.
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.
Vidi impios sepultos, qui etiam cum adhuc viverent in loco sancto erant, et laudabantur in civitate quasi justorum operum. Sed et hoc vanitas est.
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.
Etenim quia non profertur cito contra malos sententia, absque timore ullo filii hominum perpetrant mala.
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.
Attamen peccator ex eo quod centies facit malum, et per patientiam sustentatur; ego cognovi quod erit bonum timentibus Deum, qui verentur faciem ejus.
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.
Non sit bonum impio, nec prolongentur dies ejus, sed quasi umbra transeant qui non timent faciem Domini.
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.
Est et alia vanitas quæ fit super terram: sunt justi quibus mala proveniunt quasi opera egerint impiorum: et sunt impii qui ita securi sunt quasi justorum facta habeant. Sed et hoc vanissimum judico.
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.
Laudavi igitur lætitiam; quod non esset homini bonum sub sole, nisi quod comederet, et biberet, atque gauderet, et hoc solum secum auferret de labore suo, in diebus vitæ suæ quos dedit ei Deus sub sole.
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),
Et apposui cor meum ut scirem sapientiam, et intelligerem distentionem quæ versatur in terra. Est homo qui diebus et noctibus somnum non capit oculis.
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.
Et intellexi quod omnium operum Dei nullam possit homo invenire rationem eorum quæ fiunt sub sole; et quanto plus laboraverit ad quærendum, tanto minus inveniat: etiam si dixerit sapiens se nosse, non poterit reperire.
