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 really a wise man, and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? The wisdom of a man, lighteth up his countenance, but, by defiance of countenance, one is disfigured.
2 Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
I [said], The bidding of the king, observe thou, even out of regard to 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.
Not rashly from his presence, shouldst thou go: do not take thy stand in a vexatious thing, —for, whatsoever he pleaseth, he will do.
4 For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
Where the word of a king is, there is power, —who then may say to him, What wouldst thou do?
5 Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
He that observeth the commandment, will not notice a vexatious thing, —and, of time and manner, will the heart of the wise take note.
6 For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.
For, to every pursuit, there is a time and a manner, —when, the vexation of man, is great concerning it.
7 Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?
For there is no one who knoweth what shall be, for, when it shall be, who will tell him?
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, none, hath power over the day of death, and there is no furlough in war, —neither shall lawlessness deliver them who are given thereto.
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, had I seen, and tried to apply my heart to every work which was done under the sun, —at such time as one man had power over another 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, thereupon, I considered the lawless when buried, when they had entered, [their graves], that, from the place of the Holy One, they used to go and boast in the city that they had so done, —even this, was 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 a wicked work is not executed speedily—on this account, the heart of the sons of men is fully set within them, to commit wickedness.
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 be committing wickedness a hundred times, and continuing long in his own way, yet I surely know that it shall be well to them who revere God, who stand in awe 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, well, shall it not be to the lawless man, neither shall he lengthen out his days like a shadow, —because he standeth not in awe 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.
Here was a vain thing which was done upon the earth—that there were righteous men unto whom it happened according to the work of the lawless, and there were lawless men, unto whom it happened according to the work of the righteous, —I said, that, even this, was 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 extolled I, gladness, in that there was nothing better for a man, under the sun, than to eat and to drink, and to be glad, —since, that, should tarry with him in his toil, for the days of his life which God had given 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 heart, to know wisdom, and to consider the business that was done upon the earth, then surely, by day and by night, there was one who suffered not his eyes, to sleep.
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 considered all the work of God, that man could not find out the work that was done under the sun, inasmuch as man toileth in seeking and yet cannot find, —yea, even though the wise man should say he knoweth, yet can he not find it out.
