Ecclesiastes 8
1 Sapientia hominis lucet in vultu eius, et potentissimus faciem illius commutabit.
[I will tell you about] those who are truly wise [RHQ] with the result that they can explain why everything happens. Being wise enables people to be happy [MTY] and enables them to smile.
2 Ego os regis observo, et praecepta iuramenti Dei.
You solemnly promised God that you would obey what the king commands, so do that.
3 Ne festines recedere a facie eius, neque permaneas in opere malo: quia omne, quod voluerit, faciet:
Do not quickly disobey the king. And do not join those who want to rebel against him, because the king will do what he wants to do.
4 et sermo illius potestate plenus est: nec dicere ei quisquam potest: Quare ita facis?
We need to obey what the king says more than we need to obey what anyone else says; no one can say to the king, “(Why are you doing that?/You should not be doing that.) [RHQ]”
5 Qui custodit praeceptum, non experietur quidquam mali. Tempus et responsionem cor sapientis intelligit.
If you obey what the king commands, he will not harm you. [So] be wise, and know the correct/right time to do things and the right way to do them.
6 Omni negotio tempus est, et opportunitas, et multa hominis afflictio:
Although people experience many troubles/difficulties, there is a right/correct time to do things, and there is a right/correct way [to do them].
7 quia ignorat praeterita, et futura nullo scire potest nuncio.
No one knows what will happen in the future, so there is no one [RHQ] who can tell us what is going to happen.
8 Non est in hominis potestate prohibere spiritum, nec habet potestatem in die mortis, nec sinitur quiescere ingruente bello, neque salvabit impietas impium.
We cannot control the wind, and we cannot control when we will die. Soldiers are not permitted to go home during a battle, and evil people will not be saved by [doing what is] evil.
9 Omnia haec consideravi, et dedi cor meum in cunctis operibus, quae fiunt sub sole. Interdum dominatur homo homini in malum suum.
I thought about all those things, and I thought about all [HYP] the other things that happen on this earth. I saw that [sometimes] people cause those whom they control to suffer.
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.
I also saw that [sometimes] after evil [people] die, they are highly honored at their funerals by the people in the cities where they had done [evil] deeds. It seemed to be difficult to understand why that happens.
11 Etenim quia non profertur cito contra malos sententia, absque timore ullo filii hominum perpetrant mala.
If evil people are not immediately punished, it causes [other] people [SYN] to [also] want to do evil things.
12 Attamen peccator ex eo quod centies facit malum, et per patientiam sustentatur, ego cognovi quod erit bonum timentibus Deum, qui verentur faciem eius.
But even if sinful people commit 100 crimes, and [even if they] live for a long time, I know that things will go better for those who greatly respect and revere God.
13 Non sit bonum impio, nec prolongentur dies eius, sed quasi umbra transeant qui non timent faciem Domini.
[I also know] that things will not go well go for those who are evil, because they do not revere God. Shadows [do not last a long time]. Similarly [SIM], evil people will not live a long time.
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.
Another thing that [sometimes] happens on this earth is that bad things happen to righteous people, and good things happen to evil people. It is difficult to understand why that happens.
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.
[So] I decided that I would recommend that people be happy while they are alive, because the best thing that people can do here on this earth is to eat and drink and be happy. Enjoying doing those things will help people while they do their work, all the time that God has given to them to remain alive here on the earth.
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.
I thought about being wise and about people who work very hard, working day and night and not taking time to sleep.
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 thought about everything [HYP] that God has done, and I realized that no one can understand everything that happens here on this earth. Truly, people are not able to fully understand everything [that God understands], even if they try hard to do that. Even if wise people claim that they understand it all, they cannot.
