Ecclesiastes 8:13
New International Version
Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

New Living Translation
The wicked will not prosper, for they do not fear God. Their days will never grow long like the evening shadows.

English Standard Version
But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God.

Berean Standard Bible
Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
But 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.

New American Standard Bible
But it will not go well for the evil person and he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God.

NASB 1995
But it will not be well for the evil man and he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God.

NASB 1977
But it will not be well for the evil man and he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God.

Legacy Standard Bible
But it will not be well for the wicked man, and he will not prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God openly.

Amplified Bible
But it will not be well for the evil man, nor will he lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God.

Christian Standard Bible
However, it will not go well with the wicked, and they will not lengthen their days like a shadow, for they are not reverent before God.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
However, it will not go well with the wicked, and they will not lengthen their days like a shadow, for they are not reverent before God.

American Standard Version
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.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And the wicked one will have no good, and he will not lengthen days like a shadow, because he is not in awe before God

Brenton Septuagint Translation
but it shall not be well with the ungodly, and he shall not prolong his days, which are as a shadow; forasmuch as he fears not before God.

Contemporary English Version
but no one who sins and rejects God will prosper or live very long.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But let it not be well with the wicked, neither let his days be prolonged, but as a shadow let them pass away that fear not the face of the Lord.

English Revised Version
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.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
But it will not go well for the wicked. They will not live any longer. Their lives are like shadows, because they don't fear God.

Good News Translation
but it will not go well for the wicked. Their life is like a shadow and they will die young, because they do not obey God."

International Standard Version
But things will not go well for the wicked person: he will not lengthen his life like a shadow, since he has no fear before God.

JPS Tanakh 1917
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.

Literal Standard Version
And good is not to the wicked, and he does not prolong days as a shadow, because he is not fearing before God.

Majority Standard Bible
Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

New American Bible
and that it shall not be well with the wicked, who shall not prolong their shadowy days, for their lack of reverence toward God.

NET Bible
But it will not go well with the wicked, nor will they prolong their days like a shadow, because they do not stand in fear before God.

New Revised Standard Version
but it will not be well with the wicked, neither will they prolong their days like a shadow, because they do not stand in fear before God.

New Heart English Bible
But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he lengthen days like a shadow; because he doesn't fear God.

Webster's Bible Translation
But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.

World English Bible
But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he lengthen days like a shadow, because he doesn’t fear God.

Young's Literal Translation
And good is not to the wicked, and he doth not prolong days as a shadow, because he is not fearing before God.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Fear God
12Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence. 13Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

Cross References
Job 14:2
Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.

Ecclesiastes 3:14
I know that everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God does it so that they should fear Him.

Ecclesiastes 5:7
For as many dreams bring futility, so do many words. Therefore, fear God.

Ecclesiastes 6:12
For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?

Ecclesiastes 7:15
In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.

Ecclesiastes 7:18
It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.

Ecclesiastes 8:8
As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.


Treasury of Scripture

But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he fears not before God.

it shall

Job 18:5
Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.

Job 20:5
That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?

Job 21:30
That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.

neither

Psalm 55:23
But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.

Isaiah 30:13
Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.

2 Peter 2:3
And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

as a

Ecclesiastes 6:12
For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, 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?

Job 7:6,7
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope…

Job 14:2
He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

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Ecclesiastes 8
1. true wisdom is modest
2. Kings are to be respected
6. Divine providence is to be observed
12. It is better with the godly in adversity, than with the wicked in prosperity
16. The work of God is unsearchable














(13) As a shadow.--Ecclesiastes 6:12; Wisdom Of Solomon 2:5; see also Wisdom Of Solomon 4:8.

Verse 13. - But it shall not be well with the wicked. If experience seemed often to militate against this assertion, Koheleth's faith prevailed against apparent contradictions. Neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow. Above we read of a wicked man enjoying a long, untroubled life; here the contrary is stated. Such contradictions are seen every day. There are inscrutable reasons for the delay of judgment; but on the whole moral government is vindicated, and even the long life of a sinner is no blessing. The author of the Book of Wisdom writes (4:8), "Honorable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years;" and Isaiah (Isaiah 65:20), "The sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed." Man's life is compared to a shadow because it passes away with the setting sun (see on Ecclesiastes 6:12). The Vulgate, in order to obviate the apparent discrepancy between this and the preceding verses, renders the verb in a precatory form: Non sit bonum impio, etc., "Let it not be well with the wicked, and let his days not be prolonged; but let them pass away as a shadow who fear not the Lord." This is quite unnecessary; and the words, "as a shadow," according to the accents, belong to what precedes, as in the Authorized Version. Hitzig and others have adopted the Vulgate division, and render, "Like a shadow is he who fears not God." But there is no sufficient reason for disregarding the existing accentuation. Septuagint, "He shall not prolong his days in a shadow (ἐν σκιᾷ)." Because he feareth not before God. This is the reason, looking to temporal retribution, why the wicked shall not live out half their days (Ecclesiastes 7:17; Proverbs 10:27; Psalm 55:23). Koheleth cleaves to the doctrine received from old time, although facts seem often to contradict it.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Yet because
אֲשֶׁ֛ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

[the wicked] do not
אֵינֶ֥נּוּ (’ê·nen·nū)
Adverb | third person masculine singular
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

fear
יָרֵ֖א (yā·rê)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 3373: Fearing, reverent

God,
אֱלֹהִֽים׃ (’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

it will not
לֹֽא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

go
יִהְיֶ֣ה (yih·yeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

well
וְטוֹב֙ (wə·ṭō·wḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2896: Pleasant, agreeable, good

with [them],
לָֽרָשָׁ֔ע (lā·rā·šā‘)
Preposition-l, Article | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 7563: Wrong, an, bad person

and their days
יָמִ֖ים (yā·mîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 3117: A day

will not
וְלֹֽא־ (wə·lō-)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

lengthen
יַאֲרִ֥יךְ (ya·’ă·rîḵ)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 748: To be, long

like a shadow.
כַּצֵּ֑ל (kaṣ·ṣêl)
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6738: A shadow


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OT Poetry: Ecclesiastes 8:13 But it shall not be well (Ecclesiast. Ec Ecc Eccles.)
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