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 who knoweth the explanation of a thing? A man's wisdom brighteneth his countenance, and the harshness of his face is changed.
2 Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment, and that on account of 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 in haste to depart from his presence; persist not in an evil thing; for whatever pleaseth him, that he doeth.
4 For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
For the word of the king is powerful; and who can say to him, “What doest thou?”
5 Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
He that keepeth the commandment shall experience no evil; and the heart of the wise man hath regard to time and judgment.
6 For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.
For to every thing there is a time and judgment. For the misery of man is great upon him.
7 Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?
For no one knoweth what shall be; for who can tell him how it shall 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 hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit, and no man hath power over the day of death; and there is no discharge in that war; and wickedness shall not deliver those that are guilty of it.
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 I have given heed to all things that are done under the sun. There is a time when man ruleth over man to his hurt.
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 so I saw the wicked buried, while the righteous came and went from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city. This also is vanity.
11 When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore doth the heart of the sons of men become bold within them to do 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 though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and have his days prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, that 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 shall not be well with the wicked: he shall be like a shadow, and shall not prolong his days, because he feareth not 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 vanity which taketh place upon the earth, that there are righteous men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked, and that there are wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous. I said, “This also is 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.
Then I commended joy; because nothing is good for a man under the sun, except to eat and to drink and to be joyful; for it is this that abideth with him for his labor during the days of his life which God giveth 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 applied my mind to know wisdom, and to see the business which is done upon the earth, —that one seeth no sleep with his eyes 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 the whole work of God, that a man cannot comprehend that which is done under the sun; how much soever he labor to search it out, yet shall he not comprehend it; yea, though a wise man resolve to know it, yet shall he not be able to comprehend it.
