Ecclesiastes 8

1 Who is like the wise? and who knoweth [as well] the explanation of a thing? a man's wisdom enlighteneth his face, and the boldness of his face will be lessened.

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 I [counsel thee], Keep the king's command, and that which regardeth the oath [to him taken] by God.

I advise you to obey the king's command because of God's oath to protect him.

3 Be not hasty to go out of his presence; engage not in an evil thing; for whatsoever pleaseth him, can he do;

Do not hurry out of his presence, and do not stand in support of something wrong, for the king does whatever he desires.

4 Because the word of a king is powerful; and who may say unto him, What doest thou?—

The king's word rules, so who will say to him, “What are you doing?”

5 Whoso keepeth the commandment will experience no evil thing: and a wise man's heart knoweth both time and the just consequence.

Whoever keeps the king's commands avoids harm. A wise man's heart recognizes the proper course and time of action.

6 Because for every pursuit there is a time and a just consequence; for the evil of man [resteth] heavily upon him.

For every matter there is a correct response and a time to respond, because the troubles of man are great.

7 For he knoweth not that which will be; for who can tell him how it will be?

No one knows what is coming next. Who can tell him what is coming?

8 No man hath control over the spirit to detain the spirit; and there is no control over the day of death; and there is no representation in that war; and wickedness will not deliver those that practise it.

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 All this have I seen, and directed my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time when one man ruleth over another to his own injury.

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 Then also did I see the wicked buried, who had gone to their rest; but those who had acted correctly had to go away from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city. Also this is vanity.

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 Because the punishment against evil deeds is not executed speedily, therefore is the heart of the sons of men filled up in them to do evil.

When a sentence against an evil crime is not executed quickly, it entices the hearts of human beings to do evil.

12 But let a sinner do evil a hundred times, and [God] withhold long his punishment from him; still do I truly know for certain that it will be well with those that fear God, because they are afraid of him;

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 And that it will not be well with the wicked, and that he will not endure many days, like the shadow; because he is not afraid of 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 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth, that there are righteous men, unto whom it happeneth in accordance with the deeds of the wicked; again, there are wicked men, to whom it happeneth in accordance with the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.

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 Therefore do I praise joyfulness, that there is nothing better for man under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful; for this will adhere to him in his toil, during the days of his life which God hath given him under the sun.—

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 heart to know wisdom, and to see the employment that is done upon the earth, how even neither by day nor by night sleep is seen in the eyes of some men:

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 did I see [in] the whole work of God, that a man is not able to find out the work that is done under the sun; inasmuch as though a man were to toil to seek for it, he would yet not find it; and even if the wise were to think to know it, he would yet not be able to find 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.