| English Standard Version | International Standard Version |
| 1Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed. | 1Who is really wise? Who knows how to interpret this saying: "A person's wisdom improves his appearance, softening a harsh countenance." |
| 2I say: Keep the king’s command, because of God’s oath to him. | 2I advise doing what the king says, especially regarding an oath to God. |
| 3Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. | 3Don't be in a hurry to leave him, and don't persist in evil, for he does whatever he pleases. |
| 4For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” | 4Since a king's command is powerful, who is able to challenge him, asking, "What are you doing?" |
| 5Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. | 5Whoever obeys his commands will not experience harm, and the wise in heart will discern both the appropriate time and response. |
| 6For there is a time and a way for everything, although man’s trouble lies heavy on him. | 6Indeed, there is an appropriate time and a response for every circumstance, since human misery weighs heavily upon him. |
| 7For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? | 7For he has absolutely no knowledge what will happen, since who can declare to him when it will come about? |
| 8No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. | 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. |
| 9All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt. | 9I observed all this, and carefully considered everything that is undertaken on earth, especially the time when someone dominates another to his detriment. |
| 10Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity. | 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. |
| 11Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. | 11Whenever a sentence for a crime is not carried out swiftly, the human mind becomes determined to commit evil. |
| 12Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. | 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. |
| 13But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. | 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. |
| 14There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. | 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. |
| 15And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. | 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. |
| 16When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one’s eyes see sleep, | 16When I dedicated myself to experience wisdom and to observe what is undertaken on earth—even going without sleep day and night— |
| 17then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out. | 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. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
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