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.
The wisdom of a man shines in his countenance, and even the expression of a most powerful man will change.
2 Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
I heed the mouth of the king, and the commandment of an oath to God.
3 Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.
You should not hastily withdraw from his presence, nor should you remain in an evil work. For all that pleases him, he will do.
4 For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
And his word is filled with authority. Neither is anyone able to say to him: “Why are you acting this way?”
5 Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
Whoever keeps the commandment will not experience evil. The heart of a wise man understands the time to respond.
6 For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.
For every matter, there is a time and an opportunity, as well as many difficulties, for man.
7 Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?
For he is ignorant of the past, and he is able to know nothing of the future by means of a messenger.
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.
It is not in the power of a man to prohibit the spirit, nor does he have authority over the day of death, nor is he permitted to rest when war breaks out, and neither will impiety save the impious.
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.
I have considered all these things, and I have applied my heart to all the works which are being done under the sun. Sometimes one man rules over another to his own harm.
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.
I have seen the impious buried. These same, while they were still living, were in the holy place, and they were praised in the city as workers of justice. But this, too, is emptiness.
11 When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
For the sons of men perpetrate evils without any fear, because judgment is not pronounced quickly against the 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.
But although a sinner may do evil of himself one hundred times, and by patience still endure, I realize that it will be well with those who fear God, who revere his face.
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.
So, may it not go well with the impious, and may his days not be prolonged. And let those who do not fear the face of the Lord pass away like a shadow.
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 also another vanity, which is done upon the earth. There are the just, to whom evils happen, as though they had done the works of the impious. And there are the impious, who are very secure, as though they possess the deeds of the just. But this, too, I judge to be a very great vanity.
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.
And so, I praised rejoicing, because there was no good for a man under the sun, except to eat and drink, and to be cheerful, and because he may take nothing with him from his labor in the days of his life, which God has given to 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—
And I applied my heart, so that I might know wisdom, and so that I might understand a disturbance that turns upon the earth: it is a man, who takes no sleep with his eyes, day and 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.
And I understood that man is able to find no explanation for all those works of God which are done under the sun. And so, the more that he labors to seek, so much the less does he find. Yes, even if a wise man were to claim that he knows, he would not be able to discover it.
