1 ¿ Quién como el sabio? ¿y quién como el que sabe la declaración de las cosas? La sabiduría del hombre ilumina su rostro, y la tosquedad de su semblante se mudará.

¶ 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.

2 T e aconsejo que guardes el mandamiento del rey y la palabra del juramento de Dios.

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

3 N o te apresures a irte de su presencia, ni en cosa mala persistas; porque él hará todo lo que quiere.

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

4 P ues la palabra del rey es con potestad, ¿y quién le dirá: ¿Qué haces?

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

5 E l que guarda el mandamiento no experimentará mal; y el corazón del sabio discierne el tiempo y el juicio.

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

6 P orque para todo lo que quisieres hay tiempo y juicio; porque el mal del hombre es grande sobre él;

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

7 p ues no sabe lo que ha de ser; y el cuándo haya de ser, ¿quién se lo enseñará?

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

8 N o 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.

There 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.

9 T odo esto he visto, y he puesto mi corazón en todo lo que debajo del sol se hace; hay tiempo en que el hombre se enseñorea del hombre para mal suyo. Desigualdades de la vida

¶ 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.

10 A simismo he visto a los inicuos sepultados con honra; mas los que frecuentaban el lugar santo fueron luego puestos en olvido en la ciudad donde habían actuado con rectitud. Esto también es vanidad.

Then 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.

11 P or cuanto no se ejecuta luego sentencia sobre la mala obra, el corazón de los hijos de los hombres está en ellos dispuesto para hacer el mal.

Because 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.

12 A unque el pecador haga mal cien veces, y prolongue sus días, con todo yo también sé que les irá bien a los que a Dios temen, los que temen ante su presencia;

Though 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;

13 y que no le irá bien al impío, ni le serán prolongados los días, que son como sombra; por cuanto no teme delante de la presencia de Dios.

but 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.

14 H ay vanidad que se hace sobre la tierra: que hay justos a quienes sucede como si hicieran obras de impíos, y hay impíos a quienes acontece como si hicieran obras de justos. Digo que esto también es vanidad.

¶ 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.

15 P or 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 le quede de su trabajo los días de su vida que Dios le concede debajo del sol.

Therefore 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.

16 Y o, pues, dediqué mi corazón a conocer sabiduría, y a ver la faena que se hace sobre la tierra (porque hay quien ni de noche ni de día ve sueño en sus ojos);

Therefore 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).

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 conoce, no por eso podrá alcanzarla.

And 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.