| New King James Version | New International 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? Who knows the explanation of things? A person's wisdom brightens their face and changes its hard appearance. |
| 2I say, “Keep the king’s commandment for the sake of your oath to God. | 2Obey the king's command, I say, because you took an oath before God. |
| 3Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him.” | 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. |
| 4Where the word of a king is, there is power; And who may say to him, “What are you doing?” | 4Since a king's word is supreme, who can 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 obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. |
| 6Because for every matter there is a time and judgment, Though the misery of man increases greatly. | 6For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery. |
| 7For he does not know what will happen; So who can tell him when it will occur? | 7Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come? |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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 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. |
| 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 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. |
| 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. | 11When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people's hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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 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 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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 mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth--people getting no sleep day or night-- |
| 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 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. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | 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. |
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