Ecclesiastes 8 Parallel Bible Translations

Ecclesiastes 8 ▼
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1 Who is really wise? Who knows how to explain things? Wisdom makes one's face shine, and it changes one's grim look. Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed. Who is like the wise? Who knows the explanation of things? A person’s wisdom brightens their face and changes its hard appearance.
2 I [advise] you to obey the king's commands because of the oath you took in God's presence. I say: Keep the king’s command, because of God’s oath to him. Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God.
3 Don't be in a hurry to leave the king's service. Don't take part in something evil, because he can do whatever he pleases. Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.
4 Since a king's word has such power, no one can ask him what he is doing. For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 Whoever obeys his commands will avoid trouble. The mind of a wise person will know the right time and the right way [to act]. Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
6 There is a right time and a right way [to act] in every situation. Yet, a terrible human tragedy hangs over people. For there is a time and a way for everything, although man’s trouble lies heavy on him. For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery.
7 They don't know what the future will bring. So who can tell them how things will turn out? For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?
8 No one has the power to prevent the spirit of life from leaving. No one has control over the day of his own death. There is no way to avoid the war [against death]. Wickedness will not save wicked people [from dying]. No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has power over the time of their death. As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
9 I have seen all of this, and I have carefully considered all that is done under the sun whenever one person has authority to hurt others. All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt. All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt.
10 Then I saw wicked people given an [honorable] burial. They used to go in and out of the holy place. They were praised in the city for doing such things. Even this is pointless. Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity. Then too, I saw the wicked buried—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.
11 When a sentence against a crime isn't carried out quickly, people are encouraged to commit crimes. Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong.
12 A sinner may commit a hundred crimes and yet live a long life. Still, I know with certainty that it will go well for those who fear God, because they fear him. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him.
13 But it will not go well for the wicked. They will not live any longer. Their lives are like shadows, because they don't fear God. But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
14 There is something being done on earth that is pointless. Righteous people suffer for what the wicked do, and wicked people get what the righteous deserve. I say that even this is pointless. There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.
15 So I recommend the enjoyment [of life]. People have nothing better to do under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy themselves. This joy will stay with them while they work hard during their brief lives which God has given them under the sun. And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.
16 When I carefully considered how to study wisdom and how to look at the work that is done on earth (even going without sleep day and night), When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one’s eyes see sleep, When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night—
17 then I saw everything that God has done. No one is able to grasp the work that is done under the sun. However hard a person may search for it, he will not find [its meaning]. Even though a wise person claims to know, he is not able to grasp it. then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out. then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.
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