| Berean Study Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed. | 1Who is like the wise person, and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man's wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed. |
| 2Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God. | 2Keep the king's command because of your oath made before God. |
| 3Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. | 3Do not be in a hurry; leave his presence, and don't persist in a bad cause, since he will do whatever he wants. |
| 4For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?” | 4For the king's word is authoritative, and who can say to him, "What are you doing?" |
| 5Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure. | 5The one who keeps a command will not experience anything harmful, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure. |
| 6For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him. | 6For every activity there is a right time and procedure, even though man's troubles are heavy on him. |
| 7Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come? | 7Yet no one knows what will happen because who can tell him what will happen? |
| 8As 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. | 8No one has authority over the wind to restrain it, and there is no authority over the day of death; there is no furlough in battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape. |
| 9All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment. | 9All this I have seen, applying my mind to all the work that is done under the sun, at a time when one man has authority over another to his harm. |
| 10Then too, I saw the burial of the wicked who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they had done so. This too is futile. | 10In such circumstances, I saw the wicked buried. They came and went from the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they did so. This too is futile. |
| 11When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil. | 11Because the sentence against a criminal act is not carried out quickly, the heart of people is filled with the desire to commit crime. |
| 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. | 12Although a sinner commits crime a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I also know that it will go well with God-fearing people, for they are reverent before Him. |
| 13Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow. | 13However, 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. |
| 14There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile. | 14There is a futility that is done on the earth: there are righteous people who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked people who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile. |
| 15So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun. | 15So I commended enjoyment because there is nothing better for man under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy himself, for this will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun. |
| 16When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night— | 16When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the activity that is done on the earth (even though one's eyes do not close in sleep day or night), |
| 17I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend. | 17I observed all the work of God and concluded that man is unable to discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though a man labors hard to explore it, he cannot find it; even if the wise man claims to know it, he is unable to discover it. |
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