Ecclesiastes 8
1 [I will tell you about] those who are truly wise [RHQ] with the result that they can explain why everything happens. Being wise enables people to be happy [MTY] and enables them to smile.
Who knows the wise? and who knows the interpretation of a saying? A man's wisdom will lighten his countenance; but a man of shameless countenance will be hated.
2 You solemnly promised God that you would obey what the king commands, so do that.
Observe the commandment of the king, and [that] because of the word of the oath of God.
3 Do not quickly disobey the king. And do not join those who want to rebel against him, because the king will do what he wants to do.
Be not hasty; you shall go forth out of his presence: stand not in an evil matter; for he will do whatever he shall please,
4 We need to obey what the king says more than we need to obey what anyone else says; no one can say to the king, “(Why are you doing that?/You should not be doing that.) [RHQ]”
even as a king having power: and who will say to him, What do you?
5 If you obey what the king commands, he will not harm you. [So] be wise, and know the correct/right time to do things and the right way to do them.
He that keeps the commandment shall not know an evil thing: and the heart of the wise knows the time of judgment.
6 Although people experience many troubles/difficulties, there is a right/correct time to do things, and there is a right/correct way [to do them].
For to every thing there is time and judgment; for the knowledge of a man is great to him.
7 No one knows what will happen in the future, so there is no one [RHQ] who can tell us what is going to happen.
For there is no one that knows what is going to be: for who shall tell him how it shall be?
8 We cannot control the wind, and we cannot control when we will die. Soldiers are not permitted to go home during a battle, and evil people will not be saved by [doing what is] evil.
There is no man that has power over the spirit to retain the spirit; and there is no power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in the day of the battle; neither shall ungodliness save her votary.
9 I thought about all those things, and I thought about all [HYP] the other things that happen on this earth. I saw that [sometimes] people cause those whom they control to suffer.
So I saw all this, and I applied my heart to every work that has been done under the sun; all the things wherein man has power over man to afflict him.
10 I also saw that [sometimes] after evil [people] die, they are highly honored at their funerals by the people in the cities where they had done [evil] deeds. It seemed to be difficult to understand why that happens.
And then I saw the ungodly carried into the tombs, and [that] out of the holy place: and they departed, and were praised in the city, because they had done thus: this also is vanity.
11 If evil people are not immediately punished, it causes [other] people [SYN] to [also] want to do evil things.
Because there is no contradiction made on the part of those who do evil quickly, therefore the heart of the children of men is fully determined in them to do evil.
12 But even if sinful people commit 100 crimes, and [even if they] live for a long time, I know that things will go better for those who greatly respect and revere God.
He that has sinned has done evil from that time, and long from beforehand: nevertheless I know, that it is well with them that fear God, that they may fear before him:
13 [I also know] that things will not go well go for those who are evil, because they do not revere God. Shadows [do not last a long time]. Similarly [SIM], evil people will not live a long time.
but it shall not be well with the ungodly, and he shall not prolong his days, [which are] as a shadow; forasmuch as he fears not before God.
14 Another thing that [sometimes] happens on this earth is that bad things happen to righteous people, and good things happen to evil people. It is difficult to understand why that happens.
There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there are righteous persons to whom it happens according to the doing of the ungodly; and there are ungodly men, to whom it happens according to the doing of the just: I said, This is also vanity.
15 [So] I decided that I would recommend that people be happy while they are alive, because the best thing that people can do here on this earth is to eat and drink and be happy. Enjoying doing those things will help people while they do their work, all the time that God has given to them to remain alive here on the earth.
Then I praised mirth, because there is no good for a man under the sun, but to eat, and drink, and be merry: and this shall attend him in his labor all the days of his life, which God has given him under the sun.
16 I thought about being wise and about people who work very hard, working day and night and not taking time to sleep.
Whereupon I set my heart to know wisdom, and to perceive the trouble that was wrought upon the earth: for there is that neither by day nor night sees sleep with his eyes.
17 Then I thought about everything [HYP] that God has done, and I realized that no one can understand everything that happens here on this earth. Truly, people are not able to fully understand everything [that God understands], even if they try hard to do that. Even if wise people claim that they understand it all, they cannot.
And I saw all the works of God, that a man shall not be able to discover the work which is wrought under the sun; whatever things a man shall endeavor to seek, however a man may labor to seek it, yet he shall not find it; yes, how much soever a wise man may speak of knowing it, he shall not be able to find it: for I applied all this to my heart, and my heart has seen all this.
