Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the {Hebrew: strength.}hardness of his face is changed.
I counsel thee, Keep the king's command, and that in regard of the oath of God.
Be not hasty to go out of his presence; persist not in an evil thing: for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.
For the king's word hath power; and who may say unto him, What doest thou?
Whoso keepeth the commandment shall know no evil thing; and a wise man's heart discerneth time and judgment:
for to every {Or, matter}purpose there is a time and judgment; because the {Or, evil}misery of man is great upon him:
for he knoweth not that which shall be; {Or, for even when it cometh to pass, who shall declare it unto him?}for who can tell him how it shall be?
There is no man that hath power over the {Or, wind}spirit to retain the {Or, wind}spirit; neither hath he power over the day of death; and there is no discharge {Or, in battle}in war: neither shall wickedness deliver him that is given to it.
All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: {Or, what time one man had &c.}there is a time wherein one man hath power over another {Or, to his own hurt}to his hurt.
So I saw the wicked buried, {Or, who had come and gone away from the holy place; and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done Or, and men came and went &c.}and they came to the grave; and they that had done right went away from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city: this also is vanity.
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is {Or, emboldened}fully set in them to do evil.
Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and prolong his days, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, that fear before him:
but it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.
There is a vanity which is done upon the earth, that there are righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.
Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: {Or, and that this should accompany him}for that shall abide with him in his labor all the days of his life which God hath given him under the sun.
When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the {Or, travail}business that is done upon the earth ( {Or, how that neither by day nor by night do men see sleep with their eyes}for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes),
then I beheld all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because however much a man labor to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea moreover, though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.
Querverweise zu Prediger 8,13 Pred 8,13
Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out,And the {Or, flame}spark of his fire shall not shine.
But thou, O God, wilt bring them down into the pit of destruction:Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days;But I will trust in thee.
For who knoweth what is good for man in his life, {Hebrew: the number of days.}all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
That the triumphing of the wicked is short,And the joy of the godless but for a moment?
therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly in an instant.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,And are spent without hope.
That the evil man is {Or, spared in &c.}reserved to the day of calamity?That they are {Or, led away in &c.}led forth to the day of wrath?
And in covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose sentence now from of old lingereth not, and their destruction slumbereth not.
Oh remember that my life is a breath:Mine eye shall no more see good.
Jehovah trieth the righteous;But the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
He cometh forth like a flower, and {Or, withereth}is cut down:He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
Behold, thou hast made my days as handbreadths;And my life-time is as nothing before thee:Surely every man {Hebrew: standing firm.}at his best estate is altogether {Hebrew: a breath.}vanity. [Selah
Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. {[Chapter 3:19 in Hebrew]}
Man is like to {Hebrew: a breath.}vanity:His days are as a shadow that passeth away.
So shall it be in {Or, the consummation of the age}the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the righteous,
whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. What is your life? For ye are a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have {Or, practised}done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.