OET-RV ECC Chapter 8

OET ◄ ECC 8 ► ║ ═ ©

This is still a very early look into the unfinished text of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check the text in advance before using in public.

8 Who’s like the wise person and understands what’s going on?

A person’s wisdom makes their face lighten up

and gives their face a certain firmness.

2 Follow the king’s orders

because of your promise to God.

3 Don’t rush away from the king’s presence

or take a stand on an evil matter

because whatever he wants to do, he’ll do.

4 A king’s word is authoritative—

who’ll ask him what he thinks he’s doing?

5 Those who follow commands will stay out of trouble,

and a wise person will know the right time and place for something

6 because there’s a time and a right way to do everything,

otherwise humanity’s misery will be severe.

7 No one knows what the future will bring

so no one can tell you what will happen next.

8 Just as no person has control over the wind to be able to restrain it,

nor does anyone have authority over the day of their death.

Just as no one can be discharged in the middle of a war,

nor can being wicked rescue you from your situation.

9 I saw all that and applied my mind to everything that happens in this world.

I saw that sometimes a person can dominate someone else to that person’s detriment.

10 I’ve seen wicked people being buried—

being carried out from a sacred place,

and what they’d done there in the city was just forgotten.

That’s also pointless.

11 When an evil activity isn’t quickly condemned,

then humanity will become totally determined to do evil.

12 Even if an ungodly person does some evil thing a hundred times over and goes on to live a long time,

I know that things will go better for those who respect and obey God.

13 It won’t go well for the wicked and what they do won’t help them live longer

because they’ve shown no respect for God’s presence.

14 There’s something else strange that happens in this world:

when bad things happen to godly people

and when good things happen to evil people.

That’s also hard to understand.

15 Then I recommended enjoyment

because there’s nothing better for a person in this world than to eat and drink and be cheery,

then that attitude will be with them as they work

during the days of their life that God gives them in this world.

16 So when I set my mind on gaining wisdom

and observing all the business done on this earth,

because day and night there’s someone not sleeping,

17 and I saw everything that God does—

realising that humanity can’t discover everything that’s done in this world—

they’ll try to discover it but fail.

Even if a wise person claimed to know,

they wouldn’t be able to discover it.

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