Ecclesiastes 8
1 Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
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.
2 I [counsel thee], Keep the king’s command, and that in regard of the oath of God.
Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
3 Be not hasty to go out of his presence; persist not in an evil thing: for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.
Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.
4 Because the king’s word [hath] power; and who may say unto him, What doest thou?
For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall know no evil thing; and a wise man’s heart discerneth time and judgment:
Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
6 for to every purpose there is a time and judgment; because the misery of man is great upon him:
For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.
7 for he knoweth not that which shall be; for who can tell him how it shall be?
Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?
8 There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power over the day of death; and there is no discharge in [that] war: neither shall wickedness deliver him that is given to it.
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.
9 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: [there is] a time wherein one man hath power over another to his hurt.
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.
10 And withal I saw the wicked buried, and they came [to the grave]; and they that had done right went away from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city: this also is vanity.
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.
11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and prolong his [days], yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:
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.
13 but it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, [which are] as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.
Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be righteous men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.
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.
15 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him in his labour [all] the days of his life which God hath given him under the sun.
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.
16 When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes: )
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—
17 then I beheld all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because however much a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea moreover, though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.
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.
