8 This is what I know about people who are truly wise.
They know how to explain things.
Wisdom helps a person to be happy.
It causes them to smile even when they have trouble.
2 You promised God that you would serve the king faithfully.
So obey the king's commands.
3 If you are with the king,
do not leave in a hurry.
Do not join with people who plan turn against him.
Remember that the king can do anything that he wants to do.
4 The king's command has complete power.
Nobody can tell him that he is wrong.
5 Trouble will not come to anyone who obeys the king's command.
A wise person knows the right time to do things.
He also knows the right way to do them.
6 There is a right time for things to happen.
There is a right way to do things.
But trouble comes to people anyway.
7 Nobody knows what will happen in the future.
Nobody can tell us about it.
8 Nobody has the power to control the wind.
Also, nobody has the power to decide the day of their death.
Soldiers are not allowed to leave a battle.
Also, if people do wicked things,
that will not rescue them.
9 I saw all these things that happen on the earth. I thought about them a lot. I thought about the things that happen on the earth. I saw that people sometimes use their power to hurt other people.
10 I also saw that some wicked people receive honour after their death. Those wicked people had gone in and out of the holy place. People praised them in the city where they had done evil things. This also is difficult to understand.
11 People who are guilty should receive their punishment quickly. If that does not happen, other people also want to do evil things. 12 People who do lots of wicked things may live for a long time. But if someone respects and obeys God, they will surely enjoy a good life. 13 Wicked people will surely not enjoy a good life. Their lives will be like a shadow that quickly disappears. They do not respect God, so they will not live for a long time.
14 But this is something else that is difficult to understand: Sometimes righteous people suffer in the way the wicked people deserve. And sometimes wicked people enjoy the good things that righteous people deserve. I think that this is difficult to understand.
15 So I think that we should enjoy our lives. People should be happy to eat, drink and enjoy their lives. That is the best thing for them to do. It will help them to enjoy the work that they do during their lives. That is the life which God has given them on the earth.
16 I tried very much to become wise. I wanted to understand the things that people do on the earth. People work in the day and in the night and they do not sleep. 17 I thought about everything that God has done. I realized that nobody understands everything that happens on the earth. Even if they try very much, they will not know everything. A wise person may say that he understands all these things. But really that is not possible.
8 No one can understand and explain things the way wise people can. Their wisdom makes them happy. It changes a sad face into a happy one.
2 I say you should always obey the king’s command. Do this because you made a promise to God. 3 Don’t be afraid to give suggestions to the king, and don’t support something that is wrong. But remember, the king gives the commands that please him. 4 He has the authority to give commands, and no one can tell him what to do. 5 People will be safe if they obey his command. But wise people know the right time to do this, and they also know when to do the right thing.
6 There is a right time and a right way to do everything. You must decide what you should do, even when it might cause problems 7 and you are not sure what will happen. No one can tell you what will happen in the future.
8 No one has the power to keep their spirit from leaving or to stop their death. During war, no soldier has the freedom to go wherever he wants. In the same way evil does not allow anyone who does wrong to go free.
9 I saw all this. I thought very hard about the things that happen in this world. I saw that people always struggle for the power to rule others, and this is bad for them.
10 I also saw great and beautiful funerals for evil people. While the people were going home after the funeral services, they said good things about the evil people who had died. This happened even in the same towns where the evil people had done many bad things. This is senseless.
11 Sometimes people are not immediately punished for the bad things they do. Their punishment is slow to come, and that makes other people want to do bad things too.
12 A sinner might do a hundred evil things and still live a long time. But I know that it is still better to obey and respect God. 13 Evil people don’t respect God, so they will not get good things or live long lives. Their lives will not be like the shadows that become longer and longer as the sun goes down.
14 There is something else that happens on earth that does not seem fair. Bad things should happen to bad people, and good things should happen to good people. But sometimes bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people. This is not fair. 15 So I decided it was more important to enjoy life because the best thing people can do in this life [ a ] is to eat, drink, and enjoy life. At least that will help people enjoy the hard work God gave them to do during their life on earth.
16 I carefully studied the things people do in this life. I saw how busy people are. They work day and night, and they almost never sleep. 17 I also saw that no one can understand all that God does. People can try and try to understand the things that happen here on earth, but they cannot. There may be wise people who claim to understand the meaning of these things, but they are wrong. No one can understand it all.
8 Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man's wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.
2 I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God.
3 Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.
4 Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?
5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.
6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.
7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?
8 There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.
9 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.
10 And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.
11 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 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:
13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.
14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.
15 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.
16 When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)
17 Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea farther; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.
8 Who is like the wise person and who knows the meaning of a matter? A person’s wisdom ( A ) illuminates his face and makes his ( B ) stern face [ a ] brighten up.
2 I say, “Keep the [ b ] command of the king because of the ( C ) oath [ c ] before God. 3 Do not be in a hurry [ d ] ( D ) to leave him. Do not join in an evil matter, for he will do whatever he pleases.” 4 Since the word of the king is authoritative, ( E ) who will say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 One who ( F ) keeps a royal command ( G ) experiences no [ e ] trouble, for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure. 6 For ( H ) there is a proper time and procedure for every delight, though a person’s trouble is heavy upon him. 7 If no one ( I ) knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen? 8 ( J ) No one has authority over the wind to restrain the wind, nor authority over the day of death; and there is no military discharge in the time of war, and ( K ) evil will not save [ f ] those who practice it. 9 All this I have seen, and have applied my [ g ] mind to every deed that has been done under the sun at a time when one person has exercised ( L ) authority over another person to his detriment.
10 So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they are ( M ) soon forgotten in the city where they did such things. This too is futility. 11 Because the ( N ) sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore ( O ) the hearts of the sons of mankind among them are [ h ] fully given to do evil. 12 Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may ( P ) lengthen his life , still I know that it will go ( Q ) well for those who fear God, who fear [ i ] Him openly. 13 But it will ( R ) not go well for the evil person and he will not lengthen his days like a ( S ) shadow, because he does not fear God.
14 There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are ( T ) righteous people to whom it [ j ] happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are ( U ) evil people to whom it [ k ] happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this too is futility. 15 So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for ( V ) a person under the sun except to eat, drink, and be joyful, and this will stand by him in his labor throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.
16 When I ( W ) devoted my [ l ] mind to know wisdom and to see the business which has been done on the earth (even though one should [ m ] ( X ) never sleep day or night), 17 and I saw every work of God, I concluded that ( Y ) one cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though a person laboriously seeks, he will not discover; and ( Z ) even if the wise person claims to know, he cannot discover.
8 Who is like the wise?
Who knows the explanation of things?
A person’s wisdom brightens their face
and changes its hard appearance.
2 Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. 3 Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence. ( A ) Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. 4 Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing? ( B ) ”
5 Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,
and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
6 For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, ( C )
though a person may be weighed down by misery.
7 Since no one knows the future,
who can tell someone else what is to come?
8 As no one has power over the wind to contain it,
so [ a ] 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 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 [ b ] hurt. 10 Then too, I saw the wicked buried ( D ) —those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise [ c ] in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.
11 When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. 12 Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better ( E ) with those who fear God, ( F ) who are reverent before him. ( G ) 13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God, ( H ) it will not go well with them, and their days ( I ) will not lengthen like a shadow.
14 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. ( J ) This too, I say, is meaningless. ( K ) 15 So I commend the enjoyment of life ( L ) , because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink ( M ) and be glad. ( N ) Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.
16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom ( O ) and to observe the labor that is done on earth ( P ) —people getting no sleep day or night— 17 then I saw all that God has done. ( Q ) 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. ( R )
