< Ecclesiastes 8 >

1 The wisdom of a man schyneth in his cheer; and the myytieste schal chaunge his face.
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 kepe the mouth of the kyng, and the comaundementis and sweryngis of God.
Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
3 Haste thou not to go awei fro his face, and dwelle thou not in yuel werk. For he schal do al thing, that he wole;
Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.
4 and his word is ful of power, and no man mai seie to hym, Whi doist thou so?
For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 He that kepith the comaundement of God `in this lijf, schal not feele ony thing of yuel; the herte of a wijs man vndurstondith tyme and answer.
Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
6 Tyme and cesoun is to ech werk; and myche turment is of a man,
For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.
7 for he knowith not thingis passid, and he mai not knowe bi ony messanger thingis to comynge.
Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?
8 It is not in the power of man to forbede the spirit, nethir he hath power in the dai of deth, nethir he is suffrid to haue reste, whanne the batel neiyeth; nethir wickidnesse schal saue a wickid man.
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 I bihelde alle thes thingis, and Y yaf myn herte in alle werkis, that ben don vndur the sunne. Sum tyme a man is lord of a man, to his yuel.
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 Y siy wickid men biryed, which, whanne thei lyueden yit, weren in hooli place; and thei weren preisid in the citee, as men of iust werkis; but also this is vanyte.
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 Forsothe for the sentence is not brouyt forth soone ayens yuele men, the sones of men doon yuels with outen ony drede.
When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
12 Netheles of that, that a synnere doith yuel an hundrid sithis, and is suffrid bi pacience, Y knew that good schal be to men dredynge God, that reuerensen his face.
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 Good be not to the wickid man, nethir hise daies be maad longe; but passe thei as schadewe, that dreden not the face of the Lord.
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 Also another vanyte is, which is don on erthe. Iust men ben, to whiche yuels comen, as if thei diden the werkis of wickid men; and wickid men ben, that ben so sikur, as if thei han the dedis of iust men; but Y deme also this moost veyn.
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 Therfor Y preysid gladnesse, that no good was to a man vndur the sunne, no but to ete, and drynke, and to be ioiful; and that he schulde bere awei with hym silf oneli this of his trauel, in the daies of his lijf, whiche God yaf to hym vndur the sunne.
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 And Y settide myn herte to knowe wisdom, and to vndurstonde the departing, which is turned in erthe. A man is, that bi daies and niytis takith not sleep with iyen.
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 And Y vndurstood, that of alle the werkis of God, a man may fynde no resoun of tho thingis, that ben don vndur the sunne; and in as myche as he traueilith more to seke, bi so myche he schal fynde lesse; yhe, thouy a wijs man seith that he knowith, he schal not mow fynde.
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.

< Ecclesiastes 8 >