Ecclesiastes 8
1 Who [is] as the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? The wisdom of man causes his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
Ko wai hei rite mo te tangata whakaaro nui? Ko wai hoki e mohio ana ki te tikanga o tetahi mea? Ka ai te whakaaro nui o te tangata hei mea kia tiaho tona mata, ka puta ke ano hoki te taikaha o tona mata.
2 I [counsel]: keep the command of a king, even for the sake of an oath [to] God.
Ko taku tenei ki a koe, Puritia te kupu a te kingi, me whakaaro ano hoki ki ta te Atua oati.
3 Do not be troubled at his presence, you may go, do not stand in an evil thing, for all that he pleases he does.
Kei mea wawe koe ki te haere atu i tona aroaro; kaua ano hoki e tohe tonu ki te mea kino; ka oti hoki i a ia nga mea katoa e pai ai ia.
4 Where the word of a king [is] power [is], and who says to him, “What do you do?”
No te mea he mana to te kupu a te kingi; a ko wai hei mea atu ki a ia, E aha ana koe?
5 Whoever is keeping a command knows no evil thing, and time and judgment the heart of the wise knows.
Ko te kaipupuri o te whakahau, e kore rawa e mohio ki te mea he. E mohio ana te ngakau o te whakaaro nui ki te wa, ki te tikanga.
6 For to every delight there is a time and a judgment, for the misfortune of man is great on him.
He wa hoki to nga meatanga katoa, he tikanga ano; he nui hoki no te he o te tangata i runga i a ia.
7 For he does not know that which will be, for when it will be who declares to him?
Kahore hoki ia e mohio, ko te aha e puta a mua: ma wai hoki e whakaatu ki a ia te peheatanga o te putanga?
8 There is no man ruling over the spirit to restrain the spirit, and there is no authority over the day of death, and there is no discharge in battle, and wickedness does not deliver its possessors.
Kahore he tangata e whai mana ana ki te wairua, ki te pupuri i te wairua; kahore hoki he mana ki te ra o te mate: i taua pakanga hoki e kore tetahi e tukua atu; e kore ano te kino e whakaora i te mea e tukua atu ki a ia.
9 All this I have seen so as to give my heart to every work that has been done under the sun; a time that man has ruled over man to his own evil.
I kite ahau i tenei katoa, i anga ano toku ngakau ki nga meatanga katoa e meatia ana i raro i te ra; he wa ano ka whai mana tetahi tangata ki tetahi tangata hei he mona.
10 And so I have seen the wicked buried, and they went in, even from the Holy Place they go, and they are forgotten in the city whether they had so done. This [is] also vanity.
I kite ano ahau i reira i te hunga kino e tanumia ana, a i haere mai ratou ki te wahi o te tanumanga; a ko te hunga i mahi i te tika i haere atu i te wahi o te tapu, a warewaretia ana ratou e te pa: he horihori ano hoki tenei.
11 Because sentence has not been done [on] an evil work speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of man is full within them to do evil.
He kore i hohoro te whakaoti i te kupu whiu mo te mahi he, koia i ki tonu ai nga ngakau o nga tama a te tangata i roto i a ratou ki te tohe ki te mahi i te kino.
12 Though a sinner is doing evil one hundred [times], and prolonging [himself] for it, surely also I know that there is good to those fearing God, who fear before Him.
Ahakoa he rau nga mahi he a te tangata hara, a ka roa ona ra; heoi e mohio ana ano ahau, ka pai te tukunga iho ki te hunga e wehi ana i te Atua, e wehi nei i tona aroaro.
13 And good is not to the wicked, and he does not prolong days as a shadow, because he is not fearing before God.
E kore ia e pai te tukunga iho ki te tangata kino, e kore ano e whakaroaina e ia ona ra, he atarangi nei te rite; mona kihai i wehi i te aroaro o te Atua.
14 There is a vanity that has been done on the earth, that there are righteous ones to whom it is coming according to the work of the wicked, and there are wicked ones to whom it is coming according to the work of the righteous. I have said that this [is] also vanity.
He horihori tenei e mahia nei i runga i te whenua; ara he hunga tika enei, a ko te mea e pa ana ki a ratou pera tonu i te mea e pa ana ki te mahi a te hunga kino: a, he hunga kino enei, a ko te mea e pa ana ki a ratou pera tonu i te mea e pa ana ki te mahi a te hunga tika: i ki ahau he horihori ano hoki tenei.
15 And I have praised mirth because there is no good to man under the sun except to eat and to drink, and to rejoice, and it remains with him of his labor the days of his life that God has given to him under the sun.
Katahi ahau ka whakamoemiti ki te koa; no te mea kahore he mea pai ake ma te tangata i raro i te ra, ko te kai anake, ko te inu, ko te harakoa: ko tera hoki e mau ki a ia i roto i tona mauiui i nga ra o tona oranga, i homai nei e te Atua ki a ia i raro i te ra.
16 When I gave my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that has been done on the earth (for there is also a spectator in whose eyes sleep is not by day and by night),
I taku tukunga i toku ngakau kia mohio ki te whakaaro nui, kia kite i te raruraru e mahia nei i runga i te whenua: i te ao nei hoki, i te po kahore ona kanohi e kite i te moe:
17 then I considered all the work of God, that man is not able to find out the work that has been done under the sun, because though man labor to seek, yet he does not find; and even though the wise man speak of knowing he is not able to find.
Katahi ahau ka kite i te mahi a te Atua, ara e kore e kitea e te tangata te mahi e mahia ana i raro i te ra: ahakoa mauiui noa te tangata i te rapunga, e kore e kitea e ia: ae ra, ahakoa mea noa te tangata whakaaro nui kia mohiotia e ia, e kore e taea kia kitea e ia.
