| New King James Version | English Standard Version |
| 1Who is like a wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, And the sternness of his face is changed. | 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. |
| 2I say, “Keep the king’s commandment for the sake of your oath to God. | 2I say: Keep the king’s command, because of God’s oath to him. |
| 3Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him.” | 3Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. |
| 4Where the word of a king is, there is power; And who may say to him, “What are you doing?” | 4For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” |
| 5He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful; And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment, | 5Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. |
| 6Because for every matter there is a time and judgment, Though the misery of man increases greatly. | 6For there is a time and a way for everything, although man’s trouble lies heavy on him. |
| 7For he does not know what will happen; So who can tell him when it will occur? | 7For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? |
| 8No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, And no one has power in the day of death. There is no release from that war, And wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it. | 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. |
| 9All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt. | 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. |
| 10Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of holiness, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity. | 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. |
| 11Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. | 11Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. |
| 12Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. | 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. |
| 13But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God. | 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. |
| 14There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. | 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. |
| 15So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun. | 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. |
| 16When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night, | 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, |
| 17then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it. | 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. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | 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. |
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