Who is as the wise man? Who knows the meaning of things?
Wisdom makes a man’s face shine, and changes its harsh features.
8:2
Keep the king's commandment as you would an oath to God.
8:3
Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not stand for an evil cause,
for a king does whatever he pleases.
8:4
The word of a king has power and authority.
Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
8:5
Obey his commands and you shall meet no harm.
8:6
A wise man's heart discerns the right time and the right way,
for to every purpose there is right timing and right action.
8:7
Man’s ignorance of this brings him great misery,
for he knows not what shall be, or when it shall come.
8:8
No one has the power to hold onto the spirit of life.
No one has power over his day of death. There is no discharge from that war,
and your evil shall certainly not save you.
8:9
This I have seen as I applied my heart to every work under the sun:
When one man rules over another with evil intent, he hurts himself.
8:10
I have seen wicked men buried after being carried from a holy place,
while those who lived righteously were forgotten in their city.
This also is vanity.
8:11
Men do evil because punishment for evil is not executed quickly.
8:12
Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, his days may be prolonged.
Yet I know that it shall be well in the end for those who fear God,
8:13
and that it shall not be well for the wicked because they do not fear God.
Though their days may be prolonged, they shall be lived in shadow.
8:14
There are just men who are punished as if they be wicked,
and wicked men who are rewarded as if they be righteous.
This also is vanity.
8:15
So, I commend mirth, because a man has no better thing on earth,
than to eat, drink, and be merry.
That shall sustain him for all the days God gives him under the sun.
8:16
When I earnestly applied my heart to find wisdom, and to know
that which is done on the earth – even going without sleep for days –
8:17
I beheld that the works of God can never be understood by man.
No matter how diligently a man seeks this knowledge, he shall not find it.
Yea, even if a wise man thinks he knows, he does not.