Ecclesiastes 8:7-13
New Living Translation
7 Indeed, how can people avoid what they don’t know is going to happen? 8 None of us can hold back our spirit from departing. None of us has the power to prevent the day of our death. There is no escaping that obligation, that dark battle. And in the face of death, wickedness will certainly not rescue the wicked.
The Wicked and the Righteous
9 I have thought deeply about all that goes on here under the sun, where people have the power to hurt each other. 10 I have seen wicked people buried with honor. Yet they were the very ones who frequented the Temple and are now praised[a] in the same city where they committed their crimes! This, too, is meaningless. 11 When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong. 12 But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear God will be better off. 13 The wicked will not prosper, for they do not fear God. Their days will never grow long like the evening shadows.
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- 8:10 As in some Hebrew manuscripts and Greek version; many Hebrew manuscripts read and are forgotten.
Ecclesiastes 8:7-13
International Standard Version
7 For he has absolutely no knowledge what will happen, since who can declare to him when it will come about? 8 Just as no human being has control over the wind[a] to restrain it, so also no human being has control over the day of his death. Just as no one is discharged during war, so wickedness will not release those who practice[b] it.
9 I observed all this, and carefully considered everything that is undertaken on earth, especially the time when someone dominates another to his detriment. 10 So I watched the wicked being entombed. They used to come in and out of the Holy Place,[c] but now they are forgotten in the city, where they used to work. This, too, is pointless.
The Wisdom of Fearing God
11 Whenever a sentence for a crime is not carried out swiftly, the human mind[d] becomes determined to commit evil. 12 Even though a sinner does what is wrong a hundred times and still survives, nevertheless I also know that things will go well for those who fear God, who fear in his presence. 13 But things will not go well for the wicked person: he will not lengthen his life[e] like a shadow, since he has no fear before God.
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- Ecclesiastes 8:8 Or spirit
- Ecclesiastes 8:8 Or serve
- Ecclesiastes 8:10 I.e. the Temple
- Ecclesiastes 8:11 Lit. the heart of the sons of men within them
- Ecclesiastes 8:13 Lit. days
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