Eclesiastes 8

1 Ko wai hei rite mō te tangata whakaaro nui?

Ko wai hoki e mōhio ana ki te tikanga o tētahi mea?

Ka ai te whakaaro nui o te tangata hei mea kia tīaho tōna mata,

ka puta kē anō hoki te taikaha o tōna mata.

Whakarongo ki te Kīngi

2 Ko tāku tēnei ki a koe, Puritia te kupu a te kīngi, me whakaaro anō hoki ki tā te Atua oati. 3 Kei mea wawe koe ki te haere atu i tōna aroaro. Kaua anō hoki e tohe tonu ki te mea kino; ka oti hoki i a ia ngā mea katoa e pai ai ia. 4 Nō te mea he mana tō te kupu a te kīngi, ā, ko wai hei mea atu ki a ia, "E aha ana koe?"

5 Ko te kaipupuri o te whakahau,

e kore rawa e mōhio ki te mea hē.

E mōhio ana te ngākau o te whakaaro nui ki te wā,

ki te tikanga.

6 He wā hoki tō ngā meatanga katoa, he tikanga anō;

he nui hoki nō te hē o te tangata i runga i a ia.

7 Kāhore hoki ia e mōhio, ko te aha e puta ā mua,

mā wai hoki e whakaatu ki a ia te pēheatanga o te putanga?

8 Kāhore he tangata e whai mana ana ki te wairua, ki te pupuri i te wairua;

kāhore hoki he mana ki te rā o te mate.

I taua pakanga hoki e kore tētahi e tukua atu;

e kore anō te kino e whakaora i te mea e tukua atu ki a ia.

9 I kite ahau i tēnei katoa, i anga anō tōku ngākau ki ngā meatanga katoa e meatia ana i raro i te rā; he wā anō ka whai mana tētahi tangata ki tētahi tangata hei hē mōna.

Te Hunga Kino me te Hunga Tika

10 I kite anō ahau i reira i te hunga kino e tanumia ana, ā, i haere mai rātou ki te wāhi o te tanumanga; ā, ko te hunga i mahi i te tika i haere atu i te wāhi o te tapu, ā, warewaretia ana rātou e te pā; he horihori anō hoki tēnei. 11 He kore i hohoro te whakaoti i te kupu whiu mō te mahi hē, koia i kī tonu ai ngā ngākau o ngā tama a te tangata i roto i a rātou ki te tohe ki te mahi i te kino. 12 Ahakoa he rau ngā mahi hē a te tangata hara, ā, ka roa ōna rā; heoi e mōhio ana anō ahau, ka pai te tukunga iho ki te hunga e wehi ana i te Atua, e wehi nei i tōna aroaro. 13 E kore ia e pai te tukunga iho ki te tangata kino, e kore anō e whakaroaina e ia ōna rā, he ātārangi nei te rite; mōna kīhai i wehi i te aroaro o te Atua.

14 He horihori tēnei e mahia nei i runga i te whenua; arā he hunga tika ēnei, ā, ko te mea e pā ana ki a rātou pērā tonu i te mea e pā ana ki te mahi a te hunga kino; ā, he hunga kino ēnei, ā, ko te mea e pā ana ki a rātou pērā tonu i te mea e pā ana ki te mahi a te hunga tika; i kī ahau he horihori anō hoki tēnei. 15 Kātahi ahau ka whakamoemiti ki te koa; nō te mea kāhore he mea pai ake mā te tangata i raro i te rā, ko te kai anake, ko te inu, ko te harakoa. Ko tērā hoki e mau ki a ia i roto i tōna māuiui i ngā rā o tōna oranga, i hōmai nei e te Atua ki a ia i raro i te rā.

16 I tāku tukunga i tōku ngākau kia mōhio ki te whakaaro nui, kia kite i te raruraru e mahia nei i runga i te whenua; i te ao nei hoki, i te pō kāhore ōna kanohi e kite i te moe. 17 Kātahi ahau ka kite i te mahi a te Atua, arā, e kore e kitea e te tangata te mahi e mahia ana i raro i te rā; ahakoa māuiui noa te tangata i te rapunga, e kore e kitea e ia. Āe rā, ahakoa mea noa te tangata whakaaro nui kia mōhiotia e ia, e kore e taea kia kitea e ia.

1 Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed. 2 I counsel thee, Keep the king’s command, and that in regard of the oath of God. 3 Be not hasty to go out of his presence; persist not in an evil thing: for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him. 4 For the king’s word hath power; and who may say unto him, What doest thou? 5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall know no evil thing; and a wise man’s heart discerneth time and judgment: 6 for to every purpose there is a time and judgment; because the misery of man is great upon him: 7 for he knoweth not that which shall be; for who can tell him how it shall be? 8 There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power over the day of death; and there is no discharge in war: neither shall wickedness deliver him that is given to it.

9 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man hath power over another to his hurt. 10 So I saw the wicked buried, and they came to the grave; and they that had done right went away from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city: this also is vanity. 11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. 12 Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and prolong his days, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, that fear before him: 13 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.

14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth, that there are righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity. 15 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: for that shall abide with him in his labor all the days of his life which God hath given him under the sun.

16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes), 17 then I beheld all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because however much a man labor to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea moreover, though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.