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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>Ecclesiastes 8 ISV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/ecclesiastes/8.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/ecclesiastes/8-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">ISV</a> > Ecclesiastes 8</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../ecclesiastes/7.htm" title="Ecclesiastes 7">◄</a> Ecclesiastes 8 <a href="../ecclesiastes/9.htm" title="Ecclesiastes 9">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">International Standard Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/isv/esv/ecclesiastes/8.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="heading">The Wise Use of Power</p><p class="poetry1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/8-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Who is really wise?</p> <p class="poetry2">Who knows how to interpret this saying:</p> <p class="poetry2">“A person’s wisdom improves his appearance,</p> <p class="poetry2">softening a harsh countenance.”</p> <p class="heading">The Wisdom of Pleasing Leaders</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/8-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>I advise<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="8:2 The Heb. lacks advise">a</a></span> doing what the king says, especially regarding an oath to God. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/8-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>Don’t be in a hurry to leave him, and don’t persist in evil, for he does whatever he pleases. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/8-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>Since a king’s command is powerful, who is able to challenge him, asking, “What are you doing?”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/8-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>Whoever obeys his commands will not experience harm, and the wise in heart will discern both the appropriate time and response.<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="8:5 Lit. judgment">b</a></span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/8-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>Indeed, there is an appropriate time and a response<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="8:6 Lit. judgment">c</a></span> for every circumstance, since human misery weighs heavily upon him. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/8-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>For he has absolutely no knowledge what will happen, since who can declare to him when it will come about? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/8-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>Just as no human being has control over the wind<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="8:8 Or spirit">d</a></span> 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<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="8:8 Or serve">e</a></span> it.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/8-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>I observed all this, and carefully considered everything that is undertaken on earth, especially the time when someone dominates another to his detriment. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/8-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>So I watched the wicked being entombed. They used to come in and out of the Holy Place,<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="8:10 i.e. the Temple">f</a></span> but now they are forgotten in the city, where they used to work. This, too, is pointless.</p> <p class="heading">The Wisdom of Fearing God</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/8-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>Whenever a sentence for a crime is not carried out swiftly, the human mind<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="8:11 Lit. the heart of the sons of men within them">g</a></span> becomes determined to commit evil. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/8-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/8-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>But things will not go well for the wicked person: he will not lengthen his life<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="8:13 Lit. days">h</a></span> like a shadow, since he has no fear before God.</p> <p class="heading">Fruitless Righteousness, Fruitful Evil</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/8-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>Here is a pointless thing that happens on earth: A righteous man receives what happens to the wicked, and a wicked man receives what happens to the righteous. I concluded that this, too, is pointless. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/8-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>So then I recommended enjoyment of life, because it is better on earth for a man to eat, drink, and be happy, since this will stay with him throughout his struggle all the days of his life, which God grants him on earth.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/8-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>When I dedicated myself to experience wisdom and to observe what is undertaken on earth—even going without sleep day and night— <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/8-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>I saw all of it as the activity of God. Frankly, a human being cannot understand what happens on earth, because however hard a man works to discover it, he will not find out. Despite what he thinks he knows, he will not be able to figure it out.</p><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><A name="ftn"></a><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn1"><span class="fnb">a</span> 8:2 The Heb. lacks <i>advise</i><br /><span class="fnb">b</span> 8:5 Lit. <i>judgment</i><br /><span class="fnb">c</span> 8:6 Lit. <i>judgment</i><br /><span class="fnb">d</span> 8:8 Or <i>spirit</i><br /><span class="fnb">e</span> 8:8 Or <i>serve</i><br /><span class="fnb">f</span> 8:10 i.e. the Temple<br /><span class="fnb">g</span> 8:11 Lit. <i>the heart of the sons of men within them</i><br /><span class="fnb">h</span> 8:13 Lit. <i>days</i><br /></span><br><br><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><div align="center"><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1<br />Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation<br />ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../ecclesiastes/7.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Ecclesiastes 7"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Ecclesiastes 7" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../ecclesiastes/9.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Ecclesiastes 9"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Ecclesiastes 9" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/ecclesiastes/8-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><iframe width="122" height="860" scrolling="no" src="../sidemenu.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="bot"><div align="center" style="background-color:#F2FAFF"><br /><br /><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td><script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>  <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="6710025936" data-ad-format="auto"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script></td></tr></table><br /><br /><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td><script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>  <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="6710025936" data-ad-format="auto"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /> </div><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/botmenubhnm2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe><div align="center"><span class="p"><br /><br /><br /></span></div></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>