Ecclesiastes 8-12

New International Version

8 Who is like the wise?
Who knows the explanation of things?
A person’s wisdom brightens their face
and changes its hard appearance.

Obey the King

²Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. ³Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence.^(A) Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. ⁴Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?^(B)”

⁵Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,
and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
⁶For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter,^(C)
though a person may be weighed down by misery.

⁷Since no one knows the future,
    who can tell someone else what is to come?
⁸As no one has power over the wind to contain it,
    so^[a] 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 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^[b] hurt. ¹⁰Then too, I saw the wicked buried^(D)—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise^[c] in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.

¹¹When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. ¹²Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better^(E) with those who fear God,^(F) who are reverent before him.^(G) ¹³Yet because the wicked do not fear God,^(H) it will not go well with them, and their days^(I) will not lengthen like a shadow.

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.^(J) This too, I say, is meaningless.^(K) ¹⁵So I commend the enjoyment of life^(L), because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink^(M) and be glad.^(N) 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 mind to know wisdom^(O) and to observe the labor that is done on earth^(P)—people getting no sleep day or night— ¹⁷then I saw all that God has done.^(Q) 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.^(R)

A Common Destiny for All

9 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.^(S) ²All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,^[d] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.

As it is with the good,
so with the sinful;
as it is with those who take oaths,
so with those who are afraid to take them.^(T)

³This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all.^(U) The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live,^(V) and afterward they join the dead.^(W) ⁴Anyone who is among the living has hope^[e]—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!

⁵For the living know that they will die,
    but the dead know nothing;^(X)
they have no further reward,
    and even their name^(Y) is forgotten.^(Z)
⁶Their love, their hate
    and their jealousy have long since vanished;
never again will they have a part
    in anything that happens under the sun.^(AA)

⁷Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine^(AB) with a joyful heart,^(AC) for God has already approved what you do. ⁸Always be clothed in white,^(AD) and always anoint your head with oil. ⁹Enjoy life with your wife,^(AE) whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot^(AF) in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. ¹⁰Whatever^(AG) your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,^(AH) for in the realm of the dead,^(AI) where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.^(AJ)

¹¹I have seen something else under the sun:

The race is not to the swift
    or the battle to the strong,^(AK)
nor does food come to the wise^(AL)
    or wealth to the brilliant
    or favor to the learned;
but time and chance^(AM) happen to them all.^(AN)

¹²Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:

As fish are caught in a cruel net,
or birds are taken in a snare,
so people are trapped by evil times^(AO)
that fall unexpectedly upon them.^(AP)

Wisdom Better Than Folly

¹³I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom^(AQ) that greatly impressed me: ¹⁴There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. ¹⁵Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man.^(AR) ¹⁶So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.^(AS)

¹⁷The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded
than the shouts of a ruler of fools.
¹⁸Wisdom^(AT) is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner destroys much good.

10 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
    so a little folly^(AU) outweighs wisdom and honor.
²The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
    but the heart of the fool to the left.
³Even as fools walk along the road,
    they lack sense
    and show everyone^(AV) how stupid they are.
⁴If a ruler’s anger rises against you,
    do not leave your post;^(AW)
    calmness can lay great offenses to rest.^(AX)

⁵There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
    the sort of error that arises from a ruler:
⁶Fools are put in many high positions,^(AY)
    while the rich occupy the low ones.
⁷I have seen slaves on horseback,
    while princes go on foot like slaves.^(AZ)

⁸Whoever digs a pit may fall into it;^(BA)
whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.^(BB)
⁹Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them;
whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.^(BC)

¹⁰If the ax is dull
and its edge unsharpened,
more strength is needed,
but skill will bring success.

¹¹If a snake bites before it is charmed,
the charmer receives no fee.^(BD)

¹²Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious,^(BE)
    but fools are consumed by their own lips.^(BF)
¹³At the beginning their words are folly;
    at the end they are wicked madness—
¹⁴    and fools multiply words.^(BG)

No one knows what is coming—
who can tell someone else what will happen after them?^(BH)

¹⁵The toil of fools wearies them;
they do not know the way to town.

¹⁶Woe to the land whose king was a servant^[f]^(BI)
    and whose princes feast in the morning.
¹⁷Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth
    and whose princes eat at a proper time—
    for strength and not for drunkenness.^(BJ)

¹⁸Through laziness, the rafters sag;
because of idle hands, the house leaks.^(BK)

¹⁹A feast is made for laughter,
wine^(BL) makes life merry,
and money is the answer for everything.

²⁰Do not revile the king^(BM) even in your thoughts,
or curse the rich in your bedroom,
because a bird in the sky may carry your words,
and a bird on the wing may report what you say.

Invest in Many Ventures

11 Ship^(BN) your grain across the sea;
after many days you may receive a return.^(BO)
²Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;
you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

³If clouds are full of water,
    they pour rain on the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
    in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
⁴Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
    whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

⁵As you do not know the path of the wind,^(BP)
or how the body is formed^[g] in a mother’s womb,^(BQ)
so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things.

⁶Sow your seed in the morning,
    and at evening let your hands not be idle,^(BR)
for you do not know which will succeed,
    whether this or that,
    or whether both will do equally well.

Remember Your Creator While Young

⁷Light is sweet,
    and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.^(BS)
⁸However many years anyone may live,
    let them enjoy them all.
But let them remember^(BT) the days of darkness,
    for there will be many.
    Everything to come is meaningless.

⁹You who are young, be happy while you are young,
    and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.
Follow the ways of your heart
    and whatever your eyes see,
but know that for all these things
    God will bring you into judgment.^(BU)
¹⁰So then, banish anxiety^(BV) from your heart
    and cast off the troubles of your body,
    for youth and vigor are meaningless.^(BW)

12 Remember^(BX) your Creator
    in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble^(BY) come
    and the years approach when you will say,
    “I find no pleasure in them”—
²before the sun and the light
    and the moon and the stars grow dark,
    and the clouds return after the rain;
³when the keepers of the house tremble,
    and the strong men stoop,
when the grinders cease because they are few,
    and those looking through the windows grow dim;
⁴when the doors to the street are closed
    and the sound of grinding fades;
when people rise up at the sound of birds,
    but all their songs grow faint;^(BZ)
⁵when people are afraid of heights
    and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
    and the grasshopper drags itself along
    and desire no longer is stirred.
Then people go to their eternal home^(CA)
    and mourners^(CB) go about the streets.

⁶Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,
    and the golden bowl is broken;
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
    and the wheel broken at the well,
⁷and the dust returns^(CC) to the ground it came from,
    and the spirit returns to God^(CD) who gave it.^(CE)

⁸“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.^[h]^(CF)
“Everything is meaningless!^(CG)”

The Conclusion of the Matter

⁹Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs.^(CH) ¹⁰The Teacher^(CI) searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.^(CJ)

¹¹The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails^(CK)—given by one shepherd.^[i] ¹²Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.

Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.^(CL)

¹³Now all has been heard;
    here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God^(CM) and keep his commandments,^(CN)
    for this is the duty of all mankind.^(CO)
¹⁴For God will bring every deed into judgment,^(CP)
    including every hidden thing,^(CQ)
    whether it is good or evil.

Footnotes

Ecclesiastes 8:8 Or over the human spirit to retain it, / and so
Ecclesiastes 8:9 Or to their
Ecclesiastes 8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint (Aquila); most Hebrew manuscripts and are forgotten
Ecclesiastes 9:2 Septuagint (Aquila), Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew does not have and the bad.
Ecclesiastes 9:4 Or What then is to be chosen? With all who live, there is hope
Ecclesiastes 10:16 Or king is a child
Ecclesiastes 11:5 Or know how life (or the spirit) / enters the body being formed
Ecclesiastes 12:8 Or the leader of the assembly; also in verses 9 and 10
Ecclesiastes 12:11 Or Shepherd