Ecclesiastes 8
1 sapientia hominis lucet in vultu eius et potentissimus faciem illius commutavit
Who is as the wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
2 ego os regis observo et praecepta iuramenti Dei
I say, Keep the king's command, and that because of the oath of God.
3 ne festines recedere a facie eius neque permaneas in opere malo quia omne quod voluerit faciet
Be not hasty to go out of his presence. Persist not in an evil matter, 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 has power, and who may say to him, What are thou doing?
5 qui custodit praeceptum non experietur quicquam mali tempus et responsionem cor sapientis intellegit
He who keeps a commandment shall know no evil thing. And a wise man's heart discerns the time and decision.
6 omni negotio tempus est et oportunitas et multa hominis adflictio
For to every purpose there is a time and decision, although the distress of man is great upon him.
7 quia ignorat praeterita et ventura nullo scire potest nuntio
For he knows not that which shall be, for who can tell him how it shall be?
8 non est in hominis dicione 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 retain the spirit, nor has he power over the day of death. And there is no discharge in war. Neither shall wickedness deliver him who is given to it.
9 omnia haec consideravi et dedi cor meum in cunctis operibus quae fiunt sub sole interdum dominatur homo homini in malum suum
All this I have seen, and applied my heart 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 adviverent in loco sancto erant et laudabantur in civitate quasi iustorum operum sed et hoc vanitas est
So I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were praised in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity.
11 etenim quia non profertur cito contra malos sententia absque ullo timore 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 ex eo quod peccator centies facit malum et per patientiam sustentatur ego cognovi quod erit bonum timentibus Deum qui verentur faciem eius
Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and prolongs his days, yet surely I know that it shall be well with those who fear God, who fear before him.
13 non sit bonum impio nec prolongentur dies eius sed quasi umbra transeant qui non timent faciem Dei
But it shall not be well with a wicked man, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he did not fear before God.
14 est et alia vanitas quae fit super terram sunt iusti quibus multa 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 is done upon 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 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 quos dedit ei Deus sub sole
Then I commended joy, because a man has no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be cheerful. For that shall abide with him in his labor all the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.
16 et adposui cor meum ut scirem sapientiam et intellegerem distentionem quae versatur in terra est homo qui diebus ac noctibus somnum oculis non capit
When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth (for also there is he who sees sleep with his eyes neither day nor night),
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 repperire
then I beheld all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. Because however much a man labors to seek it out, yet he shall not find it. Yea moreover, though a wise man thinks to know it, yet he shall not be able to find it.
