Ecclesiastes 8
1 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.
τίς οἶδεν σοφούς καὶ τίς οἶδεν λύσιν ῥήματος σοφία ἀνθρώπου φωτιεῖ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀναιδὴς προσώπῳ αὐτοῦ μισηθήσεται
2 I say to you, Keep the king's law, from respect for the oath of God.
στόμα βασιλέως φύλαξον καὶ περὶ λόγου ὅρκου θεοῦ μὴ σπουδάσῃς
3 Be not quick to go from before him. Be not fixed in an evil design, because he does whatever is pleasing to him.
ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ πορεύσῃ μὴ στῇς ἐν λόγῳ πονηρῷ ὅτι πᾶν ὃ ἐὰν θελήσῃ ποιήσει
4 The word of a king has authority; and who may say to him, What is this you are doing?
καθὼς λαλεῖ βασιλεὺς ἐξουσιάζων καὶ τίς ἐρεῖ αὐτῷ τί ποιήσεις
5 Whoever keeps the law will come to no evil: and a wise man's heart has knowledge of time and of decision.
ὁ φυλάσσων ἐντολὴν οὐ γνώσεται ῥῆμα πονηρόν καὶ καιρὸν κρίσεως γινώσκει καρδία σοφοῦ
6 For every purpose there is a time and a decision, because the sorrow of man is great in him.
ὅτι παντὶ πράγματι ἔστιν καιρὸς καὶ κρίσις ὅτι γνῶσις τοῦ ἀνθρώπου πολλὴ ἐπ’ αὐτόν
7 No one is certain what is to be, and who is able to say to him when it will be?
ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν γινώσκων τί τὸ ἐσόμενον ὅτι καθὼς ἔσται τίς ἀναγγελεῖ αὐτῷ
8 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.
οὐκ ἔστιν ἄνθρωπος ἐξουσιάζων ἐν πνεύματι τοῦ κωλῦσαι σὺν τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐξουσία ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ θανάτου καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀποστολὴ ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ καὶ οὐ διασώσει ἀσέβεια τὸν παρ’ αὐτῆς
9 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.
καὶ σὺν πᾶν τοῦτο εἶδον καὶ ἔδωκα τὴν καρδίαν μου εἰς πᾶν ποίημα ὃ πεποίηται ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον τὰ ὅσα ἐξουσιάσατο ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ τοῦ κακῶσαι αὐτόν
10 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.
καὶ τότε εἶδον ἀσεβεῖς εἰς τάφους εἰσαχθέντας καὶ ἐκ τόπου ἁγίου ἐπορεύθησαν καὶ ἐπῃνέθησαν ἐν τῇ πόλει ὅτι οὕτως ἐποίησαν καί γε τοῦτο ματαιότης
11 Because punishment for an evil work comes not quickly, the minds of the sons of men are fully given to doing evil.
ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν γινομένη ἀντίρρησις ἀπὸ τῶν ποιούντων τὸ πονηρὸν ταχύ διὰ τοῦτο ἐπληροφορήθη καρδία υἱῶν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῦ ποιῆσαι τὸ πονηρόν
12 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.
ὃς ἥμαρτεν ἐποίησεν τὸ πονηρὸν ἀπὸ τότε καὶ ἀπὸ μακρότητος αὐτῷ ὅτι καί γε γινώσκω ἐγὼ ὅτι ἔσται ἀγαθὸν τοῖς φοβουμένοις τὸν θεόν ὅπως φοβῶνται ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ
13 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.
καὶ ἀγαθὸν οὐκ ἔσται τῷ ἀσεβεῖ καὶ οὐ μακρυνεῖ ἡμέρας ἐν σκιᾷ ὃς οὐκ ἔστιν φοβούμενος ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ
14 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.
ἔστιν ματαιότης ἣ πεποίηται ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὅτι εἰσὶ δίκαιοι ὅτι φθάνει πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὡς ποίημα τῶν ἀσεβῶν καὶ εἰσὶν ἀσεβεῖς ὅτι φθάνει πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὡς ποίημα τῶν δικαίων εἶπα ὅτι καί γε τοῦτο ματαιότης
15 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.
καὶ ἐπῄνεσα ἐγὼ σὺν τὴν εὐφροσύνην ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἀγαθὸν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον ὅτι εἰ μὴ τοῦ φαγεῖν καὶ τοῦ πιεῖν καὶ τοῦ εὐφρανθῆναι καὶ αὐτὸ συμπροσέσται αὐτῷ ἐν μόχθῳ αὐτοῦ ἡμέρας ζωῆς αὐτοῦ ὅσας ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ θεὸς ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον
16 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),
ἐν οἷς ἔδωκα τὴν καρδίαν μου τοῦ γνῶναι σοφίαν καὶ τοῦ ἰδεῖν τὸν περισπασμὸν τὸν πεποιημένον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὅτι καί γε ἐν ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἐν νυκτὶ ὕπνον ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν βλέπων
17 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.
καὶ εἶδον σὺν πάντα τὰ ποιήματα τοῦ θεοῦ ὅτι οὐ δυνήσεται ἄνθρωπος τοῦ εὑρεῖν σὺν τὸ ποίημα τὸ πεποιημένον ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον ὅσα ἂν μοχθήσῃ ὁ ἄνθρωπος τοῦ ζητῆσαι καὶ οὐχ εὑρήσει καί γε ὅσα ἂν εἴπῃ ὁ σοφὸς τοῦ γνῶναι οὐ δυνήσεται τοῦ εὑρεῖν
