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
1Only the wise know what things really mean. Wisdom makes them smile and makes their frowns disappear.
Obey the King
2Do what the king says,#8.2 Some ancient translations Do what the king says; Hebrew unclear. and don't make any rash promises to God. 3The king can do anything he likes, so depart from his presence; don't stay in such a dangerous place. 4The king acts with authority, and no one can challenge what he does. 5As long as you obey his commands, you are safe, and a wise person knows how and when to do it. 6There is a right time and a right way to do everything, but we know so little! 7None of us knows what is going to happen, and there is no one to tell us. 8No one can keep from dying or put off the day of death. That is a battle we cannot escape; we cannot cheat our way out.
The Wicked and the Righteous
9I saw all this when I thought about the things that are done in this world, a world where some people have power and others have to suffer under them. 10Yes, I have seen the wicked buried and in their graves, but on the way back from the cemetery people praise them in the very city where they did their evil. It is useless.#8.10 Verse 10 in Hebrew is unclear.
11Why do people commit crimes so readily? Because crime is not punished quickly enough. 12A sinner may commit a hundred crimes and still live. Oh yes, I know what they say: “If you obey God, everything will be all right, 13but it will not go well for the wicked. Their life is like a shadow and they will die young, because they do not obey God.” 14But this is nonsense. Look at what happens in the world: sometimes the righteous get the punishment of the wicked, and the wicked get the reward of the righteous. I say it is useless.
15So I am convinced that we should enjoy ourselves, because the only pleasure we have in this life is eating and drinking and enjoying ourselves. We can at least do this as we labour during the life that God has given us in this world.
16Whenever I tried to become wise and learn what goes on in the world, I realized that you could stay awake night and day 17and never be able to understand what God is doing. However hard you try, you will never find out. The wise may claim to know, but they don't.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.