Ecclesiastes 8
1 Sapientia hominis lucet in vultu ejus, et potentissimus faciem illius commutabit.
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 Ego os regis observo, et præcepta juramenti Dei.
Observe the commandment of the king, and [that] because of the word of the oath of God.
3 Ne festines recedere a facie ejus, neque permaneas in opere malo: quia omne quod voluerit faciet.
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 Et sermo illius potestate plenus est, nec dicere ei quisquam potest: Quare ita facis?
even as a king having power: and who will say to him, What do you?
5 Qui custodit præceptum non experietur quidquam mali. Tempus et responsionem cor sapientis intelligit.
He that keeps the commandment shall not know an evil thing: and the heart of the wise knows the time of judgement.
6 Omni negotio tempus est, et opportunitas: et multa hominis afflictio,
For to every thing there is time and judgement; for the knowledge of a man is great to him.
7 quia ignorat præterita, et futura nullo scire potest nuntio.
For there is no one that knows what is going to be: for who shall 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.
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 Omnia hæc consideravi, et dedi cor meum in cunctis operibus quæ fiunt sub sole. Interdum dominatur homo homini in malum suum.
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 Vidi impios sepultos, qui etiam cum adhuc viverent in loco sancto erant, et laudabantur in civitate quasi justorum operum. Sed et hoc vanitas est.
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 Etenim quia non profertur cito contra malos sententia, absque timore ullo filii hominum perpetrant mala.
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 Attamen peccator ex eo quod centies facit malum, et per patientiam sustentatur; ego cognovi quod erit bonum timentibus Deum, qui verentur faciem ejus.
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 Non sit bonum impio, nec prolongentur dies ejus, sed quasi umbra transeant qui non timent faciem Domini.
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 Est et alia vanitas quæ fit super terram: sunt justi quibus mala proveniunt quasi opera egerint impiorum: et sunt impii qui ita securi sunt quasi justorum facta habeant. Sed et hoc vanissimum judico.
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 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 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 labour all the days of his life, which God has given 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.
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 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.
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 endeavour to seek, however a man may labour 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.
