| New International Version | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1Who is like the wise? Who knows the explanation of things? A person's wisdom brightens their face and changes its hard appearance. | 1Who is like the wise man and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man's wisdom illumines him and causes his stern face to beam. |
| 2Obey the king's command, I say, because you took an oath before God. | 2I say, "Keep the command of the king because of the oath before God. |
| 3Do not be in a hurry to leave the king's presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. | 3"Do not be in a hurry to leave him. Do not join in an evil matter, for he will do whatever he pleases." |
| 4Since a king's word is supreme, who can say to him, "What are you doing?" | 4Since the word of the king is authoritative, who will say to him, "What are you doing?" |
| 5Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. | 5He who keeps a royal command experiences no trouble, for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure. |
| 6For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery. | 6For there is a proper time and procedure for every delight, though a man's trouble is heavy upon him. |
| 7Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come? | 7If no one knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen? |
| 8As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has power over the time of their death. As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it. | 8No man has authority to restrain the wind with the wind, or authority over the day of death; and there is no discharge in the time of war, and evil will not deliver those who practice it. |
| 9All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt. | 9All this I have seen and applied my mind to every deed that has been done under the sun wherein a man has exercised authority over another man to his hurt. |
| 10Then too, I saw the wicked buried--those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless. | 10So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out from the holy place, and they are soon forgotten in the city where they did thus. This too is futility. |
| 11When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people's hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. | 11Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil. |
| 12Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. | 12Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly. |
| 13Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow. | 13But it will not be well for the evil man and he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God. |
| 14There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. | 14There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are evil men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this too is futility. |
| 15So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun. | 15So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for a man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be merry, and this will stand by him in his toils throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun. |
| 16When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth--people getting no sleep day or night-- | 16When I gave my heart to know wisdom and to see the task which has been done on the earth (even though one should never sleep day or night), |
| 17then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it. | 17and I saw every work of God, I concluded that man cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though man should seek laboriously, he will not discover; and though the wise man should say, "I know," he cannot discover. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
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