Ecclesiastes 8 NKJV ISV Parallel

◄ Ecclesiastes 8 ►

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1Who is like a wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, And the sternness of his face is changed.

1Who is really wise? Who knows how to interpret this saying: "A person's wisdom improves his appearance, softening a harsh countenance."

2I say, “Keep the king’s commandment for the sake of your oath to God.

2I advise doing what the king says, especially regarding an oath to God.

3Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him.”

3Don't be in a hurry to leave him, and don't persist in evil, for he does whatever he pleases.

4Where the word of a king is, there is power; And who may say to him, “What are you doing?”

4Since a king's command is powerful, who is able to challenge him, asking, "What are you doing?"

5He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful; And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment,

5Whoever obeys his commands will not experience harm, and the wise in heart will discern both the appropriate time and response.

6Because for every matter there is a time and judgment, Though the misery of man increases greatly.

6Indeed, there is an appropriate time and a response for every circumstance, since human misery weighs heavily upon him.

7For he does not know what will happen; So who can tell him when it will occur?

7For he has absolutely no knowledge what will happen, since who can declare to him when it will come about?

8No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, And no one has power in the day of death. There is no release from that war, And wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it.

8Just as no human being has control over the wind to restrain it, so also no human being has control over the day of his death. Just as no one is discharged during war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

9All 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 rules over another to his own hurt.

9I observed all this, and carefully considered everything that is undertaken on earth, especially the time when someone dominates another to his detriment.

10Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of holiness, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity.

10So I watched the wicked being entombed. They used to come in and out of the Holy Place, but now they are forgotten in the city, where they used to work. This, too, is pointless.

11Because the 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.

11Whenever a sentence for a crime is not carried out swiftly, the human mind becomes determined to commit evil.

12Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him.

12Even though a sinner does what is wrong a hundred times and still survives, nevertheless I also know that things will go well for those who fear God, who fear in his presence.

13But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.

13But things will not go well for the wicked person: he will not lengthen his life like a shadow, since he has no fear before God.

14There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just 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.

14Here is a pointless thing that happens on earth: A righteous man receives what happens to the wicked, and a wicked man receives what happens to the righteous. I concluded that this, too, is pointless.

15So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.

15So then I recommended enjoyment of life, because it is better on earth for a man to eat, drink, and be happy, since this will stay with him throughout his struggle all the days of his life, which God grants him on earth.

16When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night,

16When I dedicated myself to experience wisdom and to observe what is undertaken on earth—even going without sleep day and night—

17then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it.

17I saw all of it as the activity of God. Frankly, a human being cannot understand what happens on earth, because however hard a man works to discover it, he will not find out. Despite what he thinks he knows, he will not be able to figure it out.

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