Ecclesiastes 8:12–13

8:12 Even though a sinner might commit a hundred crimes48 and still live a long time,49

yet I know that it will go well with God-fearing people50—for they stand in fear51 before him.

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

nor will they52 prolong their53 days like a shadow,54

because they55 do not stand in fear56 before God.

48	tn Heb “does evil one hundred [times].”
49	tn Heb “and prolongs his [life].”
50	tn Heb “those who fear God.”
51	tn Heb “they fear.”
52	tn Heb “he.”
53	tn The word “their” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
54	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.
55	tn Heb “he.”
56	tn Heb “they do not fear.”