Ecclesiastes 8

1 Sapientia hominis lucet in vultu eius, et potentissimus faciem illius commutabit.

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.

2 Ego os regis observo, et præcepta iuramenti Dei.

I [counsel thee], Keep the king’s command, and that in regard of the oath of God.

3 Ne festines recedere a facie eius, neque permaneas in opere malo: quia omne, quod voluerit, faciet:

Be not hasty to go out of his presence; persist not in an evil thing: for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.

4 et sermo illius potestate plenus est: nec dicere ei quisquam potest: Quare ita facis?

For the king’s word [hath] power; and who may say unto him, What doest thou?

5 Qui custodit præceptum, non experietur quidquam mali. Tempus et responsionem cor sapientis intelligit.

Whoso keepeth the commandment shall know no evil thing; and a wise man’s heart discerneth time and judgment:

6 Omni negotio tempus est, et opportunitas, et multa hominis afflictio:

for to every purpose there is a time and judgment; because the misery of man is great upon him:

7 quia ignorat præterita, et futura nullo scire potest nuncio.

for he knoweth not that which shall be; for who can tell him how it shall be?

8 Non est in hominis potestate prohibere spiritum, nec habet potestatem in die mortis, nec sinitur quiescere ingruente bello, neque salvabit impietas impium.

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.

9 Omnia hæc consideravi, et dedi cor meum in cunctis operibus, quæ fiunt sub sole. Interdum dominatur homo homini in malum suum.

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.

10 Vidi impios sepultos: qui etiam cum adhuc viverent, in loco sancto erant, et laudabantur in civitate quasi iustorum operum. Sed et hoc vanitas est.

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.

11 Etenim quia non profertur cito contra malos sententia, absque timore ullo filii hominum perpetrant mala.

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 At tamen peccator ex eo quod centies facit malum, et per patientiam sustentatur, ego cognovi quod erit bonum timentibus Deum, qui verentur faciem eius.

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:

13 Non sit bonum impio, nec prolongentur dies eius, sed quasi umbra transeant qui non timent faciem Domini.

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 Est et alia vanitas, quæ fit super terram. Sunt iusti, quibus mala proveniunt, quasi opera egerint impiorum: et sunt impii, qui ita securi sunt, quasi iustorum facta habeant. Sed et hoc vanissimum iudico.

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.

15 Laudavi igitur lætitiam quod non esset homini bonum sub sole, nisi quod comederet, et biberet, atque gauderet: et hoc solum secum auferret de labore suo in diebus vitæ suæ, quos dedit ei Deus sub sole.

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.

16 Et apposui cor meum ut scirem sapientiam, et intelligerem distentionem, quæ versatur in terra: est homo, qui diebus et noctibus somnum non capit oculis.

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),

17 Et intellexi quod omnium operum Dei nullam possit homo invenire rationem eorum, quæ fiunt sub sole: et quanto plus laboraverit ad quærendum, tanto minus inveniat: etiam si dixerit sapiens se nosse, non poterit reperire.

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.