Ecclesiastes 8

1 Who [is] as the wise? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? The wisdom of man causeth his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.

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 pray thee, the commandment of a king keep, even for the sake of the oath of God.

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

3 Be not troubled at his presence, thou mayest go, stand not in an evil thing, for all that he pleaseth he doth.

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

4 Where the word of a king [is] power [is], and who saith to him, 'What dost thou?'

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

5 Whoso is keeping a command knoweth no evil thing, and time and judgment the heart of the wise knoweth.

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

6 For to every delight there is a time and a judgment, for the misfortune of man is great 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 shall be, for when it shall be who declareth to him?

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

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 delivereth not its possessors.

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 I have seen so as to give my heart to every work that hath been done under the sun; a time that man hath ruled over man to his own evil.

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 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 also [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 sentence hath not been done [on] an evil work speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of man is full within 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 Though a sinner is doing evil a hundred [times], and prolonging [himself] for it, surely also I know that there is good to those fearing God, who fear before 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 good is not to the wicked, and he doth not prolong days as a shadow, because he is not fearing before 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 that hath been done upon the earth, that there are righteous ones unto whom it is coming according to the work of the wicked, and there are wicked ones unto whom it is coming according to the work of the righteous. I have 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 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 remaineth with him of his labour the days of his life that God hath given to 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 gave my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that hath been done on the earth, (for there is also a spectator in whose eyes sleep is not by day and by night),

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 I considered all the work of God, that man is not able to find out the work that hath been done under the sun, because though man labour to seek, yet he doth not find; and even though the wise man speak of knowing he is not able to find.

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.