29<TO> ONLY CONSIDER THIS I HAVE FOUND THAT HE MADE <THE> GOD <OBJ.> <THE> HUMANKIND UPRIGHT AND THEY THEY HAVE SOUGHT SCHEMES MANY 29Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”
1WHO? [IS] LIKE THE WISE [PERSON] AND WHO? [IS] KNOWING [THE] INTERPRETATION OF A MATTER [THE] WISDOM OF ANYONE IT MAKES SHINE FACE HIS AND [THE] STRENGTH OF FACE HIS IT IS CHANGED Obey the King 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 [THE] MOUTH OF A KING KEEP AND ON [THE] CAUSE OF [THE] OATH OF GOD 2Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
3MAY NOT YOU BE HASTY FROM BEFORE HIM YOU WILL GO MAY NOT YOU STAND IN A MATTER EVIL FOR ALL THAT HE WILL DESIRE HE WILL DO 3Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.
4IN THAT A WORD OF A KING [IS] MASTERY AND WHO? WILL HE SAY TO <THE> HIM WHAT? ARE YOU DOING 4For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
5[ONE WHO] KEEPS A COMMAND NOT HE WILL KNOW A THING EVIL AND AN APPROPRIATE TIME AND CUSTOM IT WILL KNOW A HEART WISE 5Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
6FOR FOR EVERY MATTER THERE [IS] AN APPROPRIATE TIME AND A CUSTOM FOR [THE] TROUBLE OF <THE> HUMANKIND [IS] GREAT ON HIM 6For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.
7FOR NOT HE [IS] KNOWING WHAT? THAT WILL IT BE THAT JUST AS IT WILL BE WHO? WILL HE TELL TO <THE> HIM 7Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?
8THERE NOT [IS] ANYONE HAVING MASTERY OVER THE WIND TO RESTRAIN <OBJ.> THE WIND AND THERE NOT [IS] MASTERY OVER [THE] DAY OF <THE> DEATH AND THERE NOT [IS] DISCHARGE IN THE BATTLE AND NOT IT WILL RESCUE WICKEDNESS <OBJ.> OWNERS ITS 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.
9<OBJ.> ALL THIS I HAVE SEEN AND I HAVE GIVEN <OBJ.> HEART MY TO EVERY DEED WHICH IT IS DONE UNDER THE SUN A TIME WHEN HE DOMINEERS <THE> PERSON OVER A PERSON FOR EVIL OF HIM 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
10AND IN SUCH I HAVE SEEN WICKED [PEOPLE] BEING BURIED AND THEY CAME AND FROM A PLACE OF HOLY THEY WENT AND THEY MAY BE FORGOTTEN IN THE CITY WHERE RIGHT THEY HAD DONE ALSO THIS [IS] FUTILITY Fear God (Isaiah 8:11–15) 10Then too, I saw the burial of the wicked who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they were praised*NoteCloseSome Hebrew manuscripts, LXX, and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts were soon forgotten in the city where they had done so. This too is futile.
11THAT NOT IT IS DONE [THE] SENTENCE OF [THE] DEED OF THE EVIL QUICKLY THERE- -FORE IT IS FULL [THE] HEART OF [THE] CHILDREN OF <THE> HUMANKIND IN <THE> THEM TO DO EVIL 11When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
12THAT A SINNER [IS] DOING EVIL A HUNDRED [TIMES] AND [HE IS] PROLONGING FOR <THE> HIMSELF FOR ALSO [AM] KNOWING I THAT IT WILL BELONG GOOD TO [THOSE] FEARING <OF THE> GOD THAT THEY FEAR FROM TO BEFORE HIM 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.
13AND GOOD NOT IT WILL BELONG TO THE WICKED AND NOT HE WILL PROLONG DAYS LIKE <THE> SHADOW THAT NOT HE HE HAS FEARED FROM TO 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.
14THERE [IS] FUTILITY WHICH IT IS DONE ON THE EARTH THAT THERE [ARE] RIGHTEOUS [PEOPLE] WHOM [IT IS] HAPPENING TO THEM ACCORDING TO [THE] DEED[S] OF <THE> WICKED [PEOPLE] AND THERE [ARE] WICKED [PEOPLE] [TO] WHOM [IT IS] HAPPENING TO THEM ACCORDING TO [THE] DEED[S] OF <THE> RIGHTEOUS [PEOPLE] I SAID THAT ALSO THIS [IS] FUTILITY God’s Ways Are Mysterious 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.
15AND I COMMEND I <OBJ.> <THE> GLADNESS THAT NOT GOOD [BELONGS] TO <THE> HUMANKIND UNDER THE SUN THAT EXCEPT TO EAT AND TO DRINK AND TO BE HAPPY AND THAT IT WILL ACCOMPANY HIM IN TOIL HIS [THE] DAYS OF LIFE HIS WHICH HE HAS GIVEN TO <THE> HIM <THE> GOD UNDER THE SUN 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.
16<JUST> WHEN I GAVE <OBJ.> HEART MY TO KNOW WISDOM AND TO SEE <OBJ.> THE TASK WHICH IT IS DONE ON THE EARTH FOR ALSO IN <THE> DAY AND IN <THE> NIGHT SLEEP IN VIEW HIS NOT HE [IS] SEEING 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—
17AND I SAW <OBJ.> ALL [THE] WORK OF <THE> GOD THAT NOT HE IS ABLE <THE> HUMANKIND TO FIND OUT <OBJ.> THE WORK WHICH IT IS DONE UNDER THE SUN IN THAT <TO> THAT HE TOILS <THE> HUMANKIND TO SEEK AND NOT HE WILL FIND OUT AND ALSO IF HE WILL SAY THE WISE [PERSON] TO KNOW NOT HE WILL BE ABLE TO FIND 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.