Ecclesiastes 8:12-13

8:12 Even though a sinner might commit a hundred crimes ¹  and still live a long time, ² 

yet I know that it will go well with God-fearing people ³  – for they stand in fear ⁴  before him.

8:13 But it will not go well with the wicked,

nor will they ⁵  prolong their ⁶  days like a shadow, ⁷ 

because they ⁸  do not stand in fear ⁹  before God.

[8:12]  ¹ tn Heb “does evil one hundred [times].”

[8:12]  ² tn Heb “and prolongs his [life].”

[8:12]  ³ tn Heb “those who fear God.”

[8:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “they fear.”

[8:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “he.”

[8:13]  ⁶ tn The word “their” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[8:13]  ⁷ tn The phrase “like a shadow” (כַּצֵּל, katsel) modifies the verb (“prolong”) rather than the noun (“days”). Several English versions misconstrue the line: “he will not prolong his days, [which are] like a shadow” (KJV, ASV); “the man who does not fear God is like a shadow” (NEB); and “he will not prolong his shadowy days” (NAB). It should be rendered “he will not prolong his days like a shadow” (RSV, NRSV, NASB, MLB, NIV). Unlike a shadow that lengthens at sunset, the wicked do not normally live long.

[8:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “he.”

[8:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “they do not fear.”