Ecclesiastes 8
8
Wisdom, Authorities, and Inequities
1Who is like the wise person, and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A person’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.#Dt 28:50
2Keep#8:2 Some Hb mss, LXX, Vg, Tg, Syr; other Hb mss read As for me, keep the king’s command because of your oath made before God.#Ex 22:11; 2Sm 21:7; Ezk 17:18 3Do not be in a hurry; leave his presence,#Ec 10:4 and don’t persist in a bad cause, since he will do whatever he wants. 4For the king’s word is authoritative, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?” #Jb 9:12; Dn 4:35 5The one who keeps a command will not experience anything harmful,#Rm 13:3 and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure. 6For every activity there is a right time and procedure,#Ec 3:1,17 even though a person’s troubles are heavy on him. 7Yet no one knows what will happen#Ec 3:22; 6:12; 9:12; 10:14 because who can tell him what will happen? 8No one has authority over the wind#8:8 Or life-breath to restrain it,#Ps 148:8; Pr 30:4; Mk 4:39 and there is no authority over the day of death;#Jn 10:18; 2Tm 1:10 no one is discharged during battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape. 9All this I have seen, applying my mind to all the work that is done under the sun, at a time when one person has authority over another to his harm.
10In such circumstances, I saw the wicked buried. They came and went from the holy place,#Ec 9:5 and they were praised#8:10 Some Hb mss, LXX, Aq, Theod, Sym; other Hb mss read forgotten in the city where they did those things. This too is futile. 11Because the sentence against an evil act is not carried out quickly,#Rm 2:4; 2Pt 3:9 the heart of people is filled with the desire to commit evil. 12Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life,#Ec 7:15 I also know that it will go well with God-fearing people,#Dt 12:25; Ps 37:11; Pr 1:33; Is 3:10 for they are reverent before him. 13However, it will not go well with the wicked,#Is 3:11 and they will not lengthen their days like a shadow,#Jb 14:2; Ec 6:12 for they are not reverent before God.
14There is a futility that is done on the earth: there are righteous people who get what the actions of the wicked deserve,#Ec 7:15 and there are wicked people who get what the actions of the righteous deserve.#Jb 21:7; Ps 73:3; Jr 12:1 I say that this too is futile. 15So I commended enjoyment because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy himself,#Ec 2:24 for this will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.
16When I applied my mind to know wisdom#Ec 1:13–14 and to observe the activity that is done on the earth (even though one’s eyes do not close in sleep day or night), 17I observed all the work of God and concluded that a person is unable to discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though a person labors hard to explore it, he cannot find it;#Ec 3:11; 7:25–29; 11:5 even if a wise person claims to know it, he is unable to discover it.
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Ecclesiastes 8: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Ecclesiastes 8
8
1Who is like the wise?
Who knows the explanation of things?
A person’s wisdom brightens their face
and changes its hard appearance.
Obey the King
2Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. 3Do 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. 4Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
5Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,
and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
6For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter,
though a person may be weighed down by misery.
7Since no one knows the future,
who can tell someone else what is to come?
8As no one has power over the wind to contain it,
so#8:8 Or over the human spirit to retain it, / and 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.
9All 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#8:9 Or to their hurt. 10Then too, I saw the wicked buried—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise#8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint (Aquila); most Hebrew manuscripts and are forgotten in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.
11When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. 12Although 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. 13Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
14There 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. 15So 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.
16When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night— 17then 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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