Ecclesiastes 8
1 Sapientia hominis lucet in vultu eius, et potentissimus faciem illius commutabit.
Who is a wise man? Who knows what the events in life mean? Wisdom in a man causes his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
2 Ego os regis observo, et præcepta iuramenti Dei.
I advise you to obey the king's command because of God's oath to protect him.
3 Ne festines recedere a facie eius, neque permaneas in opere malo: quia omne, quod voluerit, faciet:
Do not hurry out of his presence, and do not stand in support of something wrong, for the king does whatever he desires.
4 et sermo illius potestate plenus est: nec dicere ei quisquam potest: Quare ita facis?
The king's word rules, so who will say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 Qui custodit præceptum, non experietur quidquam mali. Tempus et responsionem cor sapientis intelligit.
Whoever keeps the king's commands avoids harm. A wise man's heart recognizes the proper course and time of action.
6 Omni negotio tempus est, et opportunitas, et multa hominis afflictio:
For every matter there is a correct response and a time to respond, because the troubles of man are great.
7 quia ignorat præterita, et futura nullo scire potest nuncio.
No one knows what is coming next. Who can tell him what is coming?
8 Non est in hominis potestate prohibere spiritum, nec habet potestatem in die mortis, nec sinitur quiescere ingruente bello, neque salvabit impietas impium.
No one is ruler over his breath so as to stop the breath, and no one has power over the day of his death. No one is discharged from the army during a battle, and wickedness will not rescue those who are its slaves.
9 Omnia hæc consideravi, et dedi cor meum in cunctis operibus, quæ fiunt sub sole. Interdum dominatur homo homini in malum suum.
I have realized all this; I have applied my heart to every kind of work that is done under the sun. There is a time when a person oppresses another person to that person's 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 publicly. They were taken from the holy area and buried and were praised by people in the city where they had done their wicked deeds. This also is uselessness.
11 Etenim quia non profertur cito contra malos sententia, absque timore ullo filii hominum perpetrant mala.
When a sentence against an evil crime is not executed quickly, it entices the hearts of human beings 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.
Even though a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives a long time, yet I know that it will be better for those who respect God, for those who stand before him and show him respect.
13 Non sit bonum impio, nec prolongentur dies eius, sed quasi umbra transeant qui non timent faciem Domini.
But it will not go well for a wicked man; his life will not be prolonged. His days are like a fleeting shadow because he does not honor 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 another useless vapor—something else that is done on the earth. Things happen to righteous people as they happen to wicked people, and things happen to wicked people as they happen to righteous people. I say that this also is useless vapor.
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.
So I recommend happiness, because a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat and drink and to be happy. It is happiness that will accompany him in his labor for all the days of his life that God has 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 understand the work that is done on the earth, work often done without sleep for the eyes at night or in the day,
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 considered all of God's deeds, and that man cannot understand the work that is done under the sun. No matter how much a man labors to find the answers, he will not find them. Even though a wise man might believe he knows, he really does not.
