Ecclesiastes 8 ISV BSB Parallel

◄ Ecclesiastes 8 ►

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Berean Study Bible

1Who is really wise? Who knows how to interpret this saying: "A person's wisdom improves his appearance, softening a harsh countenance."

1Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.

2I advise doing what the king says, especially regarding an oath to God.

2Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.

3Don't be in a hurry to leave him, and don't persist in evil, for he does whatever he pleases.

3Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.

4Since a king's command is powerful, who is able to challenge him, asking, "What are you doing?"

4For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”

5Whoever obeys his commands will not experience harm, and the wise in heart will discern both the appropriate time and response.

5Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.

6Indeed, there is an appropriate time and a response for every circumstance, since human misery weighs heavily upon him.

6For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.

7For he has absolutely no knowledge what will happen, since who can declare to him when it will come about?

7Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?

8Just as no human being has control over the wind to restrain it, so also no human being has control over the day of his death. Just as no one is discharged during war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

8As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

9I observed all this, and carefully considered everything that is undertaken on earth, especially the time when someone dominates another to his detriment.

9All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment.

10So I watched the wicked being entombed. They used to come in and out of the Holy Place, but now they are forgotten in the city, where they used to work. This, too, is pointless.

10Then too, I saw the burial of the wicked who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they had done so. This too is futile.

11Whenever a sentence for a crime is not carried out swiftly, the human mind becomes determined to commit evil.

11When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.

12Even though a sinner does what is wrong a hundred times and still survives, nevertheless I also know that things will go well for those who fear God, who fear in his presence.

12Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.

13But things will not go well for the wicked person: he will not lengthen his life like a shadow, since he has no fear before God.

13Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

14Here is a pointless thing that happens on earth: A righteous man receives what happens to the wicked, and a wicked man receives what happens to the righteous. I concluded that this, too, is pointless.

14There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.

15So then I recommended enjoyment of life, because it is better on earth for a man to eat, drink, and be happy, since this will stay with him throughout his struggle all the days of his life, which God grants him on earth.

15So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

16When I dedicated myself to experience wisdom and to observe what is undertaken on earth—even going without sleep day and night—

16When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night—

17I saw all of it as the activity of God. Frankly, a human being cannot understand what happens on earth, because however hard a man works to discover it, he will not find out. Despite what he thinks he knows, he will not be able to figure it out.

17I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.

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