Ecclesiastes 8
1 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 hardness of his face is changed.
sapientia hominis lucet in vultu eius et potentissimus faciem illius commutavit
2 I [counsel thee], Keep the king’s command, and that in regard of the oath of God.
ego os regis observo et praecepta iuramenti Dei
3 Be not hasty to go out of his presence; persist not in an evil thing: for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.
ne festines recedere a facie eius neque permaneas in opere malo quia omne quod voluerit faciet
4 For the king’s word [hath] power; and who may say unto him, What doest thou?
et sermo illius potestate plenus est nec dicere ei quisquam potest quare ita facis
5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall know no evil thing; and a wise man’s heart discerneth time and judgment:
qui custodit praeceptum non experietur quicquam mali tempus et responsionem cor sapientis intellegit
6 for to every purpose there is a time and judgment; because the misery of man is great upon him:
omni negotio tempus est et oportunitas et multa hominis adflictio
7 for he knoweth not that which shall be; for who can tell him how it shall be?
quia ignorat praeterita et ventura nullo scire potest nuntio
8 There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power over the day of death; and there is no discharge in war: neither shall wickedness deliver him that is given to it.
non est in hominis dicione prohibere spiritum nec habet potestatem in die mortis nec sinitur quiescere ingruente bello neque salvabit impietas impium
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 hath power over another to his hurt.
omnia haec consideravi et dedi cor meum in cunctis operibus quae fiunt sub sole interdum dominatur homo homini in malum suum
10 So I saw the wicked buried, and they came [to the grave]; and they that had done right went away from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city: this also is vanity.
vidi impios sepultos qui etiam cum adviverent in loco sancto erant et laudabantur in civitate quasi iustorum operum sed et hoc vanitas est
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.
etenim quia non profertur cito contra malos sententia absque ullo timore filii hominum perpetrant mala
12 Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and prolong his [days], yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, that fear before him:
attamen ex eo quod peccator centies facit malum et per patientiam sustentatur ego cognovi quod erit bonum timentibus Deum qui verentur faciem eius
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.
non sit bonum impio nec prolongentur dies eius sed quasi umbra transeant qui non timent faciem Dei
14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth, that there are righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.
est et alia vanitas quae fit super terram sunt iusti quibus multa proveniunt quasi opera egerint impiorum et sunt impii qui ita securi sunt quasi iustorum facta habeant sed et hoc vanissimum iudico
15 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: for that shall abide with him in his labor [all] the days of his life which God hath given him under the sun.
laudavi igitur laetitiam quod non esset homini bonum sub sole nisi quod comederet et biberet atque gauderet et hoc solum secum auferret de labore suo in diebus vitae quos dedit ei Deus sub sole
16 When I applied my 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),
et adposui cor meum ut scirem sapientiam et intellegerem distentionem quae versatur in terra est homo qui diebus ac noctibus somnum oculis non capit
17 then I beheld all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because however much a man labor to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea moreover, though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.
et intellexi quod omnium operum Dei nullam possit homo invenire rationem eorum quae fiunt sub sole et quanto plus laboraverit ad quaerendum tanto minus inveniat etiam si dixerit sapiens se nosse non poterit repperire
