Ecclesiastes 8
1 Sapientia hominis lucet in vultu eius, et potentissimus faciem illius commutabit.
Who is like the wise man, and who knoweth the explanation of a thing? A man's wisdom brighteneth his countenance, and the harshness of his face is changed.
2 Ego os regis observo, et præcepta iuramenti Dei.
I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment, and that on account of the oath of God.
3 Ne festines recedere a facie eius, neque permaneas in opere malo: quia omne, quod voluerit, faciet:
Be not in haste to depart from his presence; persist not in an evil thing; for whatever pleaseth him, that he doeth.
4 et sermo illius potestate plenus est: nec dicere ei quisquam potest: Quare ita facis?
For the word of the king is powerful; and who can say to him, “What doest thou?”
5 Qui custodit præceptum, non experietur quidquam mali. Tempus et responsionem cor sapientis intelligit.
He that keepeth the commandment shall experience no evil; and the heart of the wise man hath regard to time and judgment.
6 Omni negotio tempus est, et opportunitas, et multa hominis afflictio:
For to every thing there is a time and judgment. For the misery of man is great upon him.
7 quia ignorat præterita, et futura nullo scire potest nuncio.
For no one knoweth what shall be; for who can tell him how it shall be?
8 Non est in hominis potestate prohibere spiritum, nec habet potestatem in die mortis, nec sinitur quiescere ingruente bello, neque salvabit impietas impium.
No man hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit, and no man hath power over the day of death; and there is no discharge in that war; and wickedness shall not deliver those that are guilty of it.
9 Omnia hæc consideravi, et dedi cor meum in cunctis operibus, quæ fiunt sub sole. Interdum dominatur homo homini in malum suum.
All this have I seen, and I have given heed to all things that are done under the sun. There is a time when man ruleth over man to his hurt.
10 Vidi impios sepultos: qui etiam cum adhuc viverent, in loco sancto erant, et laudabantur in civitate quasi iustorum operum. Sed et hoc vanitas est.
And so I saw the wicked buried, while the righteous came and went from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city. This also is vanity.
11 Etenim quia non profertur cito contra malos sententia, absque timore ullo filii hominum perpetrant mala.
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore doth the heart of the sons of men become bold within them to do evil.
12 At tamen peccator ex eo quod centies facit malum, et per patientiam sustentatur, ego cognovi quod erit bonum timentibus Deum, qui verentur faciem eius.
But though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and have his days prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, that fear before him.
13 Non sit bonum impio, nec prolongentur dies eius, sed quasi umbra transeant qui non timent faciem Domini.
But it shall not be well with the wicked: he shall be like a shadow, and shall not prolong his days, because he feareth not before God.
14 Est et alia vanitas, quæ fit super terram. Sunt iusti, quibus mala proveniunt, quasi opera egerint impiorum: et sunt impii, qui ita securi sunt, quasi iustorum facta habeant. Sed et hoc vanissimum iudico.
There is a vanity which taketh place upon the earth, that there are righteous men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked, and that there are wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous. I said, “This also is vanity!”
15 Laudavi igitur lætitiam quod non esset homini bonum sub sole, nisi quod comederet, et biberet, atque gauderet: et hoc solum secum auferret de labore suo in diebus vitæ suæ, quos dedit ei Deus sub sole.
Then I commended joy; because nothing is good for a man under the sun, except to eat and to drink and to be joyful; for it is this that abideth with him for his labor during the days of his life which God giveth him under the sun.
16 Et apposui cor meum ut scirem sapientiam, et intelligerem distentionem, quæ versatur in terra: est homo, qui diebus et noctibus somnum non capit oculis.
When I applied my mind to know wisdom, and to see the business which is done upon the earth, —that one seeth no sleep with his eyes by day or by night, —
17 Et intellexi quod omnium operum Dei nullam possit homo invenire rationem eorum, quæ fiunt sub sole: et quanto plus laboraverit ad quærendum, tanto minus inveniat: etiam si dixerit sapiens se nosse, non poterit reperire.
then I saw the whole work of God, that a man cannot comprehend that which is done under the sun; how much soever he labor to search it out, yet shall he not comprehend it; yea, though a wise man resolve to know it, yet shall he not be able to comprehend it.
