Ecclesiastes 8 Parallel Bible Translations

Ecclesiastes 8 ▼
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1 Who is really wise? Who knows how to interpret this saying: |A person's wisdom improves his appearance, softening a harsh countenance.| 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 doing what the king says, especially regarding an oath to God. 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 him, and don't persist in evil, for he does 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 command is powerful, who is able to challenge him, asking, |What are you 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 not experience harm, and the wise in heart will discern both the appropriate time and response. 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 Indeed, there is an appropriate time and a response for every circumstance, since human misery weighs heavily upon him. 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 For he has absolutely no knowledge what will happen, since who can declare to him when it will come about? 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 Just 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. 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 observed all this, and carefully considered everything that is undertaken on earth, especially the time when someone dominates another to his detriment. 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 So 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. 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 Whenever a sentence for a crime is not carried out swiftly, the human mind becomes determined to commit evil. 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 Even 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. 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 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. 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 Here 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. 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 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. 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 dedicated myself to experience wisdom and to observe what is undertaken 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 I 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. 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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