Ecclesiastes
Chapter 8
1 Who is as wise as that person? And who understands the meaning of things? A person’s wisdom lights up their face, and it softens the hardness of their expression.
2 I advise you to obey the king’s order, because of your promise to God.
3 Don’t rush to leave his presence, and don’t take part in wrong; for he does whatever he wants.
4 Where a king’s command is, there is power: and who can ask him, “What are you doing?”
5 Anyone who follows the command will not experience anything bad; and a wise person understands the right time and decision.
6 Every goal has its right time and way, so people often feel overwhelmed by troubles.
7 He does not know what will happen: for who can tell him when it will be?
8 No one has power over their spirit to keep it, and no one has control over the day of death. There is no release from that struggle; evil will not save those who are bound to it.
9 I have seen all this and given my heart to every deed done under the sun: there is a time when one person rules over another to their harm.
10 I saw the bad people buried who went back and forth from the holy place, and they were forgotten in the city where they did these things; this is also meaningless.
11 Because punishment for bad actions is not given quickly, people are encouraged to keep doing wrong.
12 Even if a sinner does wrong many times and lives a long life, I am sure that things will go well for those who respect God and show their respect for him.
13 Things will not go well for the wicked, and he will not live long, like a shadow, because he does not respect God.
14 There is a meaningless thing happening on earth: good people get what bad people deserve, and bad people get what good people deserve. I say this is also meaningless.
15 I praised fun because the best thing for a person in life is to eat, drink, and enjoy themselves. This happiness will stay with them through their workdays, given by God.
16 When I devoted my heart to learn wisdom and to observe the activities done on the earth: (because there are those who do not get sleep day or night:)
17 I saw everything God has done, and we can’t fully understand all that happens on earth. Even if we work hard to search for it, we won’t find it. And even if a wise person thinks they can know it, they won’t be able to discover it.