Ecclesiastes 8
1 Sapientia hominis lucet in vultu eius, et potentissimus faciem illius commutabit.
Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? the wisedome of a man doth make his face to shine: and the strength of his face shalbe changed.
2 Ego os regis observo, et praecepta iuramenti Dei.
I aduertise thee to take heede to ye mouth of the King, and to the worde of the othe of God.
3 Ne festines recedere a facie eius, neque permaneas in opere malo: quia omne, quod voluerit, faciet:
Haste not to goe forth of his sight: stand not in an euill thing: for he will doe whatsoeuer pleaseth him.
4 et sermo illius potestate plenus est: nec dicere ei quisquam potest: Quare ita facis?
Where the word of ye King is, there is power, and who shall say vnto him, What doest thou?
5 Qui custodit praeceptum, non experietur quidquam mali. Tempus et responsionem cor sapientis intelligit.
He that keepeth the commandement, shall knowe none euill thing, and the heart of the wise shall knowe the time and iudgement.
6 Omni negotio tempus est, et opportunitas, et multa hominis afflictio:
For to euery purpose there is a time and iudgement, because the miserie of man is great vpon him.
7 quia ignorat praeterita, et futura nullo scire potest nuncio.
For he knoweth not that which shalbe: for who can tell him when it shalbe?
8 Non est in hominis potestate prohibere spiritum, nec habet potestatem in die mortis, nec sinitur quiescere ingruente bello, neque salvabit impietas impium.
Man is not lorde ouer the spirit to retaine the spirite: neither hath hee power in the day of death, nor deliuerance in the battell, neither shall wickednesse deliuer the possessers thereof.
9 Omnia haec consideravi, et dedi cor meum in cunctis operibus, quae fiunt sub sole. Interdum dominatur homo homini in malum suum.
All this haue I seene, and haue giuen mine heart to euery worke, which is wrought vnder the sunne, and I sawe a time that man ruleth ouer man to his owne 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 likewise I sawe the wicked buried, and they returned, and they that came from the holy place, were yet forgotten in the citie where they had done right: this also is vanitie.
11 Etenim quia non profertur cito contra malos sententia, absque timore ullo filii hominum perpetrant mala.
Because sentence against an euill worke is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the children of men is fully set in them to doe euill.
12 Attamen peccator ex eo quod centies facit malum, et per patientiam sustentatur, ego cognovi quod erit bonum timentibus Deum, qui verentur faciem eius.
Though a sinner doe euill an hundreth times, and God prolongeth his dayes, yet I knowe that it shalbe well with them that feare the Lord, and doe reuerence 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 to the wicked, neither shall he prolong his dayes: he shall be like a shadowe, because he feareth not before God.
14 Est et alia vanitas, 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 vanitie, which is done vpon the earth, that there be righteous men to whom it commeth according to the worke of the wicked: and there be wicked men to whom it commeth according to the worke of the iust: I thought also that this is vanitie.
15 Laudavi igitur laetitiam quod non esset homini bonum sub sole, nisi quod comederet, et biberet, atque gauderet: et hoc solum secum auferret de labore suo in diebus vitae suae, quos dedit ei Deus sub sole.
And I praysed ioy: for there is no goodnesse to man vnder the sunne, saue to eate and to drinke and to reioyce: for this is adioyned to his labour, the dayes of his life that God hath giuen him vnder the sunne.
16 Et apposui cor meum ut scirem sapientiam, et intelligerem distentionem, quae versatur in terra: est homo, qui diebus et noctibus somnum non capit oculis.
When I applied mine heart to knowe wisedome, and to behold the busines that is done on earth, that neither day nor night the eyes of man take sleepe,
17 Et intellexi quod omnium operum Dei nullam possit homo invenire rationem eorum, quae fiunt sub sole: et quanto plus laboraverit ad quaerendum, tanto minus inveniat: etiam si dixerit sapiens se nosse, non poterit reperire.
Then I behelde the whole worke of God, that man cannot finde out ye worke that is wrought vnder the sunne: for the which man laboureth to seeke it, and cannot finde it: yea, and though the wise man thinke to knowe it, he cannot finde it.
