1 ¶ Who is as the wise man? and who is as he who knows the interpretation of all things? The wisdom of this man shall make his face to shine, and the coarseness of his face shall be changed.

¿Quién es como el sabio? ¿Y quién otro sabe la explicación de un asunto? La sabiduría del hombre ilumina su rostro Y hace que la dureza de su rostro cambie.

2 I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment and the word of the covenant that thou hast made with God.

Yo digo: “Guarda el mandato del rey por causa del juramento de Dios.

3 D o not be hasty to rebel against him; do not persist in any evil thing, for he shall do whatsoever pleases him;

No te apresures a irte de su presencia. No te unas a una causa impía, porque él hará todo lo que le plazca.”

4 b ecause the word of the king is his power and who may say unto him, What doest thou?

Puesto que la palabra del rey es soberana, ¿quién le dirá: “Qué haces ?”

5 W hosoever keeps the commandment shall experience no evil thing, and a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment.

El que guarda el mandato real no experimenta ningún mal; Porque el corazón del sabio conoce el tiempo y el modo de hacerlo.

6 ¶ Because for every will there is time and judgment, because the evil of man is great upon him,

Porque para cada deleite hay un tiempo y un modo, Aunque la aflicción del hombre sea mucha sobre él.

7 f or he does not know that which shall be; nor when it shall be. Who will teach it to him?

Si nadie sabe qué sucederá, ¿Quién le anunciará cómo ha de suceder?

8 T here is no man that has power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither does he have power over the day of death, and weapons are of no use in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.

No hay hombre que tenga potestad para refrenar el viento con el viento, Ni potestad sobre el día de la muerte. No se da licencia en tiempo de guerra, Ni la impiedad salvará a los que la practican.

9 ¶ All this I have seen and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: the time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt.

Todo esto he visto, y he puesto mi corazón en toda obra que se hace bajo el sol, cuando el hombre domina a otro hombre para su mal.

10 T hen I also saw that the wicked who were buried came into remembrance more than those who had frequented the holy place, and these were forgotten in the city where they had worked uprightly. This also is vanity.

También he visto a los impíos ser sepultados, los que entraban y salían del lugar santo, y que fueron pronto olvidados en la ciudad en que así habían actuado. También esto es vanidad.

11 B ecause the 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.

Porque la sentencia contra una mala obra no se ejecuta enseguida, el corazón de los hijos de los hombres está en ellos entregado enteramente a hacer el mal.

12 T hough a sinner does evil one hundred times and his judgment is prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with those that fear God, who fear before his presence;

Aunque el pecador haga el mal cien veces y alargue su vida, con todo, yo sé que les irá bien a los que temen a Dios, a los que temen ante Su presencia.

13 b ut it shall never be well with the wicked, neither shall his days be prolonged, which are as a shadow, because he did not fear before the presence of God.

Pero no le irá bien al impío, ni alargará sus días como una sombra, porque no teme ante la presencia de Dios.

14 ¶ There is another vanity which is done upon the earth: that there are just men, who are recompensed as if they had done according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men, who are recompensed as if they had done according to the work of the righteous; I say that this also is vanity.

Hay una vanidad que se hace sobre la tierra: hay justos a quienes les sucede conforme a las obras de los impíos, y hay impíos a quienes les sucede conforme a las obras de los justos. Digo que también esto es vanidad.

15 T herefore I commended joy because a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat and to drink and to be merry, for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God gives him under the sun.

Por tanto yo alabé el placer, porque no hay nada bueno para el hombre bajo el sol sino comer, beber y divertirse, y esto le acompañará en sus afanes en los días de su vida que Dios le haya dado bajo el sol.

16 T herefore I applied mine heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done upon the earth (for also there is he that neither day nor night sees sleep with his eyes).

Cuando apliqué mi corazón a conocer la sabiduría y a ver la tarea que ha sido hecha sobre la tierra (aunque uno no durmiera ni de día ni de noche ),

17 A nd I have seen regarding all the works of God that man cannot attain to understand the work that is being done under the sun, because though a man labours to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; even though the wise man says that he knows it, yet he shall not be able to attain it.

y vi toda la obra de Dios, decidí que el hombre no puede descubrir la obra que se ha hecho bajo el sol. Aunque el hombre busque con afán, no la descubrirá; y aunque el sabio diga que la conoce, no puede descubrir la.