Ecclesiastes 8
1 Who can compare to the truly wise? Who knows how to interpret things? If you have wisdom your face lights up, and your stern look is softened.
Who is a wise man? Who knows what the events in life mean? Wisdom in a man causes his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
2 My advice is to do what the king says, since that's what you promised God.
I advise you to obey the king's command because of God's oath to protect him.
3 Don't be quick to walk out on the king without thinking what you're doing, and don't get involved with those who plot against him, for the king can do what he pleases.
Do not hurry out of his presence, and do not stand in support of something wrong, for the king does whatever he desires.
4 The king's orders have supreme authority—who is going to question him, saying, “What are you doing?”
The king's word rules, so who will say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 Those who follow his commands will not be involved in doing evil. Wise people think, recognizing there's a right time, and a right way.
Whoever keeps the king's commands avoids harm. A wise man's heart recognizes the proper course and time of action.
6 For there's a right time and a right way for everything, even when things are going badly for you.
For every matter there is a correct response and a time to respond, because the troubles of man are great.
7 No one knows what's going to happen, so who can say what the future holds?
No one knows what is coming next. Who can tell him what is coming?
8 No one can hold onto the breath of life; no one can prevent the day when they die. There's no way of escaping that battle, and the wicked won't be saved by their wickedness!
No one is ruler over his breath so as to stop the breath, and no one has power over the day of his death. No one is discharged from the army during a battle, and wickedness will not rescue those who are its slaves.
9 I examined all these things, and thought about all that happens here on earth, and the damage that's caused when people dominate others.
I have realized all this; I have applied my heart to every kind of work that is done under the sun. There is a time when a person oppresses another person to that person's hurt.
10 Yes, I have seen wicked people buried with great honor. They used to go to the holy place, and were praised in the very city where they did their evil. This is hard to understand!
So I saw the wicked buried publicly. They were taken from the holy area and buried and were praised by people in the city where they had done their wicked deeds. This also is uselessness.
11 When people are not punished quickly for their crimes they are even more determined to do wrong.
When a sentence against an evil crime is not executed quickly, it entices the hearts of human beings to do evil.
12 Even though a sinner may do wrong a hundred times, and live a long life, I'm convinced that those who do what God says will be better off.
Even though a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives a long time, yet I know that it will be better for those who respect God, for those who stand before him and show him respect.
13 In fact, the wicked will not live long, passing like a shadow, because they refuse to follow God.
But it will not go well for a wicked man; his life will not be prolonged. His days are like a fleeting shadow because he does not honor God.
14 Another thing that is hard to understand is this: good people are treated as the wicked should be, and the wicked are treated as good people should be. As I say, this is difficult to comprehend!
There is another useless vapor—something else that is done on the earth. Things happen to righteous people as they happen to wicked people, and things happen to wicked people as they happen to righteous people. I say that this also is useless vapor.
15 So I recommend enjoying life. There's nothing better for us here on earth than to eat and drink and be happy. Such an attitude will go with us as we work, and as we live our lives that God gives us here on earth.
So I recommend happiness, because a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat and drink and to be happy. It is happiness that will accompany him in his labor for all the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
16 When I applied my mind to discovering wisdom and observing everything people do here on earth, I couldn't get any sleep, day or night.
When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to understand the work that is done on the earth, work often done without sleep for the eyes at night or in the day,
17 Then I studied everything God does, and I realized that no one can fully understand what happens here. However, hard they try, however wise they claim to be, they can't really comprehend it.
then I considered all of God's deeds, and that man cannot understand the work that is done under the sun. No matter how much a man labors to find the answers, he will not find them. Even though a wise man might believe he knows, he really does not.
