| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1How wonderful to be wise, to analyze and interpret things. Wisdom lights up a person’s face, softening its harshness. Obedience to the King | 1Who is a wise person? Who knows the solution to a problem? A person's wisdom brightens his appearance, and softens his harsh countenance. |
| 2Obey the king since you vowed to God that you would. | 2Obey the king's command, because you took an oath before God to be loyal to him. |
| 3Don’t try to avoid doing your duty, and don’t stand with those who plot evil, for the king can do whatever he wants. | 3Do not rush out of the king's presence in haste--do not delay when the matter is unpleasant, for he can do whatever he pleases. |
| 4His command is backed by great power. No one can resist or question it. | 4Surely the king's authority is absolute; no one can say to him, "What are you doing?" |
| 5Those who obey him will not be punished. Those who are wise will find a time and a way to do what is right, | 5Whoever obeys his command will not experience harm, and a wise person knows the proper time and procedure. |
| 6for there is a time and a way for everything, even when a person is in trouble. | 6For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, for the oppression of the king is severe upon his victim. |
| 7Indeed, how can people avoid what they don’t know is going to happen? | 7Surely no one knows the future, and no one can tell another person what will happen. |
| 8None of us can hold back our spirit from departing. None of us has the power to prevent the day of our death. There is no escaping that obligation, that dark battle. And in the face of death, wickedness will certainly not rescue the wicked. The Wicked and the Righteous | 8Just as no one has power over the wind to restrain it, so no one has power over the day of his death. Just as no one can be discharged during the battle, so wickedness cannot rescue the wicked. |
| 9I have thought deeply about all that goes on here under the sun, where people have the power to hurt each other. | 9While applying my mind to everything that happens in this world, I have seen all this: Sometimes one person dominates other people to their harm. |
| 10I have seen wicked people buried with honor. Yet they were the very ones who frequented the Temple and are now praised in the same city where they committed their crimes! This, too, is meaningless. | 10Not only that, but I have seen the wicked approaching and entering the temple, and as they left the holy temple, they boasted in the city that they had done so. This also is an enigma. |
| 11When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong. | 11When a sentence is not executed at once against a crime, the human heart is encouraged to do evil. |
| 12But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear God will be better off. | 12Even though a sinner might commit a hundred crimes and still live a long time, yet I know that it will go well with God-fearing people--for they stand in fear before him. |
| 13The wicked will not prosper, for they do not fear God. Their days will never grow long like the evening shadows. | 13But it will not go well with the wicked, nor will they prolong their days like a shadow, because they do not stand in fear before God. |
| 14And this is not all that is meaningless in our world. In this life, good people are often treated as though they were wicked, and wicked people are often treated as though they were good. This is so meaningless! | 14Here is another enigma that occurs on earth: Sometimes there are righteous people who get what the wicked deserve, and sometimes there are wicked people who get what the righteous deserve. I said, "This also is an enigma." |
| 15So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun. | 15So I recommend the enjoyment of life, for there is nothing better on earth for a person to do except to eat, drink, and enjoy life. So joy will accompany him in his toil during the days of his life which God gives him on earth. |
| 16In my search for wisdom and in my observation of people’s burdens here on earth, I discovered that there is ceaseless activity, day and night. | 16When I tried to gain wisdom and to observe the activity on earth--even though it prevents anyone from sleeping day or night-- |
| 17I realized that no one can discover everything God is doing under the sun. Not even the wisest people discover everything, no matter what they claim. | 17then I discerned all that God has done: No one really comprehends what happens on earth. Despite all human efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp it. Even if a wise person claimed that he understood, he would not really comprehend it. |
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