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.
Sapientia hominis lucet in vultu eius, et potentissimus faciem illius commutabit.
2 Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
Ego os regis observo, et praecepta iuramenti Dei.
3 Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.
Ne festines recedere a facie eius, neque permaneas in opere malo: quia omne, quod voluerit, faciet:
4 For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
et sermo illius potestate plenus est: nec dicere ei quisquam potest: Quare ita facis?
5 Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
Qui custodit praeceptum, non experietur quidquam mali. Tempus et responsionem cor sapientis intelligit.
6 For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.
Omni negotio tempus est, et opportunitas, et multa hominis afflictio:
7 Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?
quia ignorat praeterita, et futura nullo scire potest nuncio.
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.
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, 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.
Omnia haec consideravi, et dedi cor meum in cunctis operibus, quae fiunt sub sole. Interdum dominatur homo homini in malum suum.
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.
Vidi impios sepultos: qui etiam cum adhuc viverent, in loco sancto erant, et laudabantur in civitate quasi iustorum operum. sed et hoc vanitas est.
11 When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
Etenim quia non profertur cito contra malos sententia, absque timore ullo filii hominum perpetrant mala.
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.
Attamen peccator ex eo quod centies facit malum, et per patientiam sustentatur, ego cognovi quod erit bonum timentibus Deum, qui verentur faciem eius.
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.
Non sit bonum impio, nec prolongentur dies eius, sed quasi umbra transeant qui non timent faciem Domini.
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.
Est et alia vanitas, super terram. sunt iusti, quibus mala proveniunt, quasi opera egerint impiorum: et sunt impii, qui ita securi sunt, quasi iustorum facta habeant. sed et hoc vanissimum iudico.
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.
Laudavi igitur laetitiam quod non esset homini bonum sub sole, nisi quod comederet, et biberet, atque gauderet: et hoc solum secum auferret de labore suo in diebus vitae suae, quos dedit ei Deus sub sole.
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—
Et apposui cor meum ut scirem sapientiam, et intelligerem distentionem, quae versatur in terra: est homo, qui diebus et noctibus somnum non capit oculis.
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.
Et intellexi quod omnium operum Dei nullam possit homo invenire rationem eorum, quae fiunt sub sole: et quanto plus laboraverit ad quaerendum, tanto minus inveniat: etiam si dixerit sapiens se nosse, non poterit reperire.
