Ecclesiastes 8
1 Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.
Who is like the wise man? and to whom is the sense of anything clear? A man's wisdom makes his face shining, and his hard face will be changed.
2 Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
I say to you, Keep the king's law, from respect for the oath of God.
3 Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.
Be not quick to go from before him. Be not fixed in an evil design, because he does whatever is pleasing to him.
4 For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
The word of a king has authority; and who may say to him, What is this you are doing?
5 Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
Whoever keeps the law will come to no evil: and a wise man's heart has knowledge of time and of decision.
6 For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.
For every purpose there is a time and a decision, because the sorrow of man is great in him.
7 Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?
No one is certain what is to be, and who is able to say to him when it will be?
8 As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
No man has authority over the wind, to keep the wind; or is ruler over the day of his death. In war no man's time is free, and evil will not keep the sinner safe.
9 All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment.
All this have I seen, and have given my heart to all the work which is done under the sun: there is a time when man has power over man for his destruction.
10 Then 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.
And then I saw evil men put to rest, taken even from the holy place; and they went about and were praised in the town because of what they had done. This again is to no purpose.
11 When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
Because punishment for an evil work comes not quickly, the minds of the sons of men are fully given to doing evil.
12 Although 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.
Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his life is long, I am certain that it will be well for those who go in fear of God and are in fear before him.
13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
But it will not be well for the evil-doer; he will not make his days long like a shade, because he has no fear before God.
14 There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.
There is a thing which is to no purpose done on the earth: that there are good men to whom is given the same punishment as those who are evil, and there are evil men who get the reward of the good. I say that this again is to no purpose.
15 So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.
So I gave praise to joy, because there is nothing better for a man to do under the sun than to take meat and drink and be happy; for that will be with him in his work all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.
16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night—
When I gave my mind to the knowledge of wisdom and to seeing the business which is done on the earth (and there are those whose eyes see not sleep by day or by night),
17 I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.
Then I saw all the work of God, and that man may not get knowledge of the work which is done under the sun; because, if a man gives hard work to the search he will not get knowledge, and even if the wise man seems to be coming to the end of his search, still he will be without knowledge.
