1 Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? the wisedome of a man doth make his face to shine: and the strength of his face shalbe changed. 2 I aduertise thee to take heede to ye mouth of the King, and to the worde of the othe of God. 3 Haste not to goe forth of his sight: stand not in an euill thing: for he will doe whatsoeuer pleaseth him. 4 Where the word of ye King is, there is power, and who shall say vnto him, What doest thou? 5 He that keepeth the commandement, shall knowe none euill thing, and the heart of the wise shall knowe the time and iudgement. 6 For to euery purpose there is a time and iudgement, because the miserie of man is great vpon him. 7 For he knoweth not that which shalbe: for who can tell him when it shalbe? 8 Man is not lorde ouer the spirit to retaine the spirite: neither hath hee power in the day of death, nor deliuerance in the battell, neither shall wickednesse deliuer the possessers thereof. 9 All this haue I seene, and haue giuen mine heart to euery worke, which is wrought vnder the sunne, and I sawe a time that man ruleth ouer man to his owne hurt. 10 And likewise I sawe the wicked buried, and they returned, and they that came from the holy place, were yet forgotten in the citie where they had done right: this also is vanitie. 11 Because sentence against an euill worke is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the children of men is fully set in them to doe euill. 12 Though a sinner doe euill an hundreth times, and God prolongeth his dayes, yet I knowe that it shalbe well with them that feare the Lord, and doe reuerence before him. 13 But it shall not be well to the wicked, neither shall he prolong his dayes: he shall be like a shadowe, because he feareth not before God. 14 There is a vanitie, which is done vpon the earth, that there be righteous men to whom it commeth according to the worke of the wicked: and there be wicked men to whom it commeth according to the worke of the iust: I thought also that this is vanitie. 15 And I praysed ioy: for there is no goodnesse to man vnder the sunne, saue to eate and to drinke and to reioyce: for this is adioyned to his labour, the dayes of his life that God hath giuen him vnder the sunne. 16 When I applied mine heart to knowe wisedome, and to behold the busines that is done on earth, that neither day nor night the eyes of man take sleepe, 17 Then I behelde the whole worke of God, that man cannot finde out ye worke that is wrought vnder the sunne: for the which man laboureth to seeke it, and cannot finde it: yea, and though the wise man thinke to knowe it, he cannot finde it.
1 Only the wise know what things really mean. Wisdom makes them smile and makes their frowns disappear.
Obey the King
2 Do what the king says, and don't make any rash promises to God. 3 The king can do anything he likes, so depart from his presence; don't stay in such a dangerous place. 4 The king acts with authority, and no one can challenge what he does. 5 As long as you obey his commands, you are safe, and a wise person knows how and when to do it. 6 There is a right time and a right way to do everything, but we know so little! 7 None of us knows what is going to happen, and there is no one to tell us. 8 No one can keep from dying or put off the day of death. That is a battle we cannot escape; we cannot cheat our way out.
The Wicked and the Righteous
9 I saw all this when I thought about the things that are done in this world, a world where some people have power and others have to suffer under them. 10 Yes, I have seen the wicked buried and in their graves, but on the way back from the cemetery people praise them in the very city where they did their evil. It is useless.
11 Why do people commit crimes so readily? Because crime is not punished quickly enough. 12 A sinner may commit a hundred crimes and still live. Oh yes, I know what they say: “If you obey God, everything will be all right, 13 but it will not go well for the wicked. Their life is like a shadow and they will die young, because they do not obey God.” 14 But this is nonsense. Look at what happens in the world: sometimes the righteous get the punishment of the wicked, and the wicked get the reward of the righteous. I say it is useless.
15 So I am convinced that we should enjoy ourselves, because the only pleasure we have in this life is eating and drinking and enjoying ourselves. We can at least do this as we labor during the life that God has given us in this world.
16 Whenever I tried to become wise and learn what goes on in the world, I realized that you could stay awake night and day 17 and never be able to understand what God is doing. However hard you try, you will never find out. The wise may claim to know, but they don't.