Ecclesiastes 8
1 Sapientia hominis lucet in vultu ejus, et potentissimus faciem illius commutabit.
Who is like the wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
2 Ego os regis observo, et præcepta juramenti Dei.
I say, “Keep the king’s command!” because of the oath to God.
3 Ne festines recedere a facie ejus, neque permaneas in opere malo: quia omne quod voluerit faciet.
Don’t be hasty to go out of his presence. Don’t persist in an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him,
4 Et sermo illius potestate plenus est, nec dicere ei quisquam potest: Quare ita facis?
for the king’s word is supreme. Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 Qui custodit præceptum non experietur quidquam mali. Tempus et responsionem cor sapientis intelligit.
Whoever keeps the commandment shall not come to harm, and his wise heart will know the time and procedure.
6 Omni negotio tempus est, et opportunitas: et multa hominis afflictio,
For there is a time and procedure for every purpose, although the misery of man is heavy on him.
7 quia ignorat præterita, et futura nullo scire potest nuntio.
For he doesn’t know that which will be; for who can tell him how it will 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 who has power over the spirit to contain the spirit; neither does he have power over the day of death. There is no discharge in war; neither shall wickedness deliver those who practice 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 I have seen, and applied my mind to every work that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has power over another to his hurt.
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.
So I saw the wicked buried. Indeed they came also from holiness. They went and were forgotten in the city where they did this. 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 the heart of the sons of men is fully set 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.
Though a sinner commits crimes a hundred times, and lives long, yet surely I know that it will be better with those who fear God, who are reverent 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 wicked, neither shall he lengthen days like a shadow, because he doesn’t fear 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 on the earth, that there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked. Again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that 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 mirth, because a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat, to drink, and to be joyful: for that will accompany him in his labor 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.
When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on the earth (even though eyes see no sleep day or 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 all the work of God, that man can’t find out the work that is done under the sun, because however much a man labors to seek it out, yet he won’t find it. Yes even though a wise man thinks he can comprehend it, he won’t be able to find it.
