| International Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard 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 person, and 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 because of your oath made 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 be in a hurry; leave his presence, and don't persist in a bad cause, since he will do whatever he wants. |
| 4Since a king's command is powerful, who is able to challenge him, asking, "What are you doing?" | 4For the king's word is authoritative, 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. | 5The one who keeps a command will not experience anything harmful, 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 every activity there is a right time and procedure, even though man's troubles are heavy on him. |
| 7For he has absolutely no knowledge what will happen, since who can declare to him when it will come about? | 7Yet no one knows what will happen because who can tell him what will happen? |
| 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. | 8No one has authority over the wind to restrain it, and there is no authority over the day of death; there is no furlough in battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape. |
| 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 all the work that is done under the sun, at a time when one man has authority over another to his harm. |
| 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. | 10In such circumstances, I saw the wicked buried. They came and went from the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they did so. This too is futile. |
| 11Whenever a sentence for a crime is not carried out swiftly, the human mind becomes determined to commit evil. | 11Because the sentence against a criminal act is not carried out quickly, the heart of people is filled with the desire to commit crime. |
| 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 commits crime a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I also know that it will go well with God-fearing people, for they are reverent before Him. |
| 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. | 13However, it will not go well with the wicked, and they will not lengthen their days like a shadow, for they are not reverent before God. |
| 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 people who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked people 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 enjoyment because there is nothing better for man under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy himself, for this 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 activity that is done on the earth (even though one's eyes do not close in sleep day or 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 observed all the work of God and concluded that man is unable to discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though a man labors hard to explore it, he cannot find it; even if the wise man claims to know it, he is unable to discover it. |
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