Ecclesiastes · Catholic Public Domain Version
Ecclesiastes 8 Catholic Public Domain Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
1 The wisdom of a man shines in his countenance, and even the expression of a most powerful man will change.
1 ¿QUIÉN como el sabio? ¿y quién [como] el que sabe la declaración de las cosas? La sabiduría del hombre hará relucir su rostro, y mudaráse la tosquedad de su semblante.
2 I heed the mouth of the king, and the commandment of an oath to God.
2 Yo [te aviso] que guardes el mandamiento del rey y la palabra del juramento de Dios.
3 You should not hastily withdraw from his presence, nor should you remain in an evil work. For all that pleases him, he will do.
3 No te apresures á irte de delante de él, ni en cosa mala persistas; porque él hará todo lo que quisiere:
4 And his word is filled with authority. Neither is anyone able to say to him: “Why are you acting this way?”
4 Pues la palabra del rey [es con] potestad, ¿y quién le dirá, Qué haces?
5 Whoever keeps the commandment will not experience evil. The heart of a wise man understands the time to respond.
5 El que guarda el mandamiento no experimentará mal; y el tiempo y el juicio conoce el corazón del sabio.
6 For every matter, there is a time and an opportunity, as well as many difficulties, for man.
6 Porque para todo lo que quisieres hay tiempo y juicio; mas el trabajo del hombre es grande sobre él;
7 For he is ignorant of the past, and he is able to know nothing of the future by means of a messenger.
7 Porque no sabe lo que ha de ser; y el cuándo haya de ser, ¿quién se lo enseñará?
8 It is not in the power of a man to prohibit the spirit, nor does he have authority over the day of death, nor is he permitted to rest when war breaks out, and neither will impiety save the impious.
8 No hay hombre que tenga potestad sobre el espíritu para retener el espíritu, ni potestad sobre el día de la muerte: y no [valen] armas en [tal] guerra; ni la impiedad librará al que la posee.
9 I have considered all these things, and I have applied my heart to all the works which are being done under the sun. Sometimes one man rules over another to his own harm.
9 Todo esto he visto, y puesto he mi corazón en todo lo que debajo del sol se hace: hay tiempo en que el hombre se enseñorea del hombre para mal suyo.
10 I have seen the impious buried. These same, while they were still living, were in the holy place, and they were praised in the city as workers of justice. But this, too, is emptiness.
10 Esto vi también: que los impíos sepultados vinieron aún [en memoria]; mas los que partieron del lugar santo, fueron luego puestos en olvido en la ciudad donde con rectitud habían obrado. Esto también es vanidad.
11 For the sons of men perpetrate evils without any fear, because judgment is not pronounced quickly against the evil.
11 Porque no se ejecuta luego sentencia sobre la mala obra, el corazón de los hijos de los hombres está en ellos lleno para hacer mal.
12 But although a sinner may do evil of himself one hundred times, and by patience still endure, I realize that it will be well with those who fear God, who revere his face.
12 Bien que el pecador haga mal cien veces, y le sea dilatado [el castigo], con todo yo también sé que los que á Dios temen tendrán bien, los que temieren ante su presencia;
13 So, may it not go well with the impious, and may his days not be prolonged. And let those who do not fear the face of the Lord pass away like a shadow.
13 Y que el impío no tendrá bien, ni le serán prolongados los días, [que son] como sombra; por cuanto no temió delante de la presencia de Dios.
14 There is also another vanity, which is done upon the earth. There are the just, to whom evils happen, as though they had done the works of the impious. And there are the impious, who are very secure, as though they possess the deeds of the just. But this, too, I judge to be a very great vanity.
14 Hay vanidad que se hace sobre la tierra: que hay justos á quienes sucede como [si hicieran] obras de impíos; y hay impíos á quienes acaece como [si hicieran] obras de justos. Digo que esto también es vanidad.
15 And so, I praised rejoicing, because there was no good for a man under the sun, except to eat and drink, and to be cheerful, and because he may take nothing with him from his labor in the days of his life, which God has given to him under the sun.
15 Por tanto alabé yo la alegría; que no tiene el hombre bien debajo del sol, sino que coma y beba, y se alegre; y que esto se le quede de su trabajo los días de su vida que Dios le dió debajo del sol.
16 And I applied my heart, so that I might know wisdom, and so that I might understand a disturbance that turns upon the earth: it is a man, who takes no sleep with his eyes, day and night.
16 Yo pues dí mi corazón á conocer sabiduría, y á ver la faena que se hace sobre la tierra; (porque hay quien ni de noche ni de día ve sueño en su ojos;)
17 And I understood that man is able to find no explanation for all those works of God which are done under the sun. And so, the more that he labors to seek, so much the less does he find. Yes, even if a wise man were to claim that he knows, he would not be able to discover it.
17 Y he visto todas las obras de Dios, que el hombre no puede alcanzar la obra que debajo del sol se hace; por mucho que trabaje el hombre buscándola, no la hallará: aunque diga el sabio que la sabe, no por eso podrá alcanzarla.
Cross references (17)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Acts 6:15; Deuteronomy 28:50; 2 Peter 1:20; Proverbs 24:5; Proverbs 17:24
- 2 Proverbs 24:21; Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 2:13–17; 1 Kings 2:43; Romans 13:1–5
- 3 Ecclesiastes 10:4; Daniel 4:35; Acts 5:8–9; Daniel 5:19; Proverbs 14:29
- 4 Romans 13:1–4; Job 9:12; Proverbs 20:2; Daniel 4:35; Romans 9:20
- 5 Hebrews 5:14; 1 Peter 3:13–14; Philippians 1:9–10; Acts 4:19; Luke 20:25
- 6 Ecclesiastes 3:1; Ecclesiastes 3:17; Luke 19:42–44; Ecclesiastes 3:11; Luke 17:26–30
- 7 Ecclesiastes 10:14; Ecclesiastes 9:12; Matthew 24:50; Ecclesiastes 6:12; Proverbs 24:22
- 8 Psalm 89:48; Job 14:5; Hebrews 9:27; Psalm 49:6–9; Ecclesiastes 3:21
- 9 Ecclesiastes 5:8; Ecclesiastes 4:7–8; Ecclesiastes 5:13; Ecclesiastes 3:10; Ecclesiastes 7:25
- 10 Ecclesiastes 2:16; Proverbs 10:7; Ecclesiastes 9:5; Job 21:32–33; Jeremiah 17:13
- 11 Isaiah 26:10; Psalm 50:21–22; Romans 2:4–5; 2 Peter 3:3–10; Matthew 24:49–50
- 12 Psalm 37:11; Luke 1:50; 2 Peter 2:9; Psalm 37:18–19; Ecclesiastes 7:15
- 13 Ecclesiastes 6:12; Isaiah 3:11; Job 14:2; Malachi 3:18; Isaiah 57:21
- 14 Ecclesiastes 7:15; Malachi 3:15; Ecclesiastes 2:14; Ecclesiastes 9:1–3; Psalm 73:3
- 15 Ecclesiastes 2:24; Ecclesiastes 5:18; Ecclesiastes 3:12–13; Ecclesiastes 9:7–9; Ecclesiastes 3:22
- 16 Ecclesiastes 2:23; Ecclesiastes 1:13; Psalm 127:2; Ecclesiastes 8:7; Ecclesiastes 8:9
- 17 Ecclesiastes 3:11; Psalm 73:16; Romans 11:33; Isaiah 40:28; Job 11:7–9
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… which is done upon the earth; that there be just men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked: again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous. I said, that this also is vanity." This wisest man devoted this whole book to a full exposure of this vanity, evidently …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)